Self build

Wstephen

Hi, was just wondering if anyone can give me some advice on self build cost, I know the question has probably been asked many times before but I just want to do a "water tight home" to start with, my thinking is that if I was to sell my 3 bed home for the going rate of 160k then I have seen a plot with planning for four bed detached for 90k. Now I was wondering how far I could get with the build after spending 80k bearing in mind that kitchen and bathroom fitting and windows, skirtings, architrave etc etc would all be done by myself and a couple of others, does this seem a feasible project to tackle, I would be happy to leave 2 bedrooms and another room to a later date and do up over time, I just wanted it to be habitable.
Many thx steve

knightstyle

channel4 had a good site about this and try here http://www.buildstore.co.uk/finance/build-cost-calculator.html

thelem

Grand Designs has featured at least one house that cost just £28k (http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/apr/09/grand-designs-kevin-mccloud ), so it certainly can be done for that budget but don't expect it to be easy. The most common mistakes I've seen on Grand Designs are people underestimating the amount of work they'll need to put in (even when they are getting other people to do everything and only need to make decisions and chase project managers) and under estimating the budget (you need a big contingency fund, or you'll end up compromising things you have budgeted for).

Building a two bed, with a plan to extend for a four bed sounds more hassle than it's worth. Are you going to build foundations for the four bed initially, or will you need to get the workmen back and leave a weak point between the two parts of the house? Will you end up with internal walls that were built to be external walls? How will you build the roof?

martinsurrey

I would budget £1,200 to £1,400 per square meter, this would include all fees and utility charges (since I guess its an empty plot, you need to build water, gas, electricity and sewage into the mains).

The more work you do the cheaper you can get this down, but Its a good starting point to make sure you don’t get left with a un mortgage able half built shell.

As its a 4 bed detached my guess is its around 110sq meter, so £132,000 to £154,000 build cost would be a start.

Wstephen111

Thanks for the replies, my biggest query was the fact I would only have in the region of 90k to do this build and was wondering how far that would get me if I did the said work myself, when I said I would be happy to leave a couple of rooms and do up at a later date by that I meant it would still be built as a 4 bed, I suppose really that isn't saving much cash as its only plaster, decoration and a bit of woodwork,

Wstephen111

Just to point out I got a different username as I was totally unable to log in with the Oneida set up