Building a house - quotes needed

sinaplenty

this really looked like a "I'm needing a price on a length of string" thread to start with, but houseboy's quote seems pretty specific - and cheap! £60K plus decorating for a 4bed detached house? that seems pretty good to me.

theGrinch

you really need architectural drawings so all quotes are standardised and you know what you are getting.

I can put you in touch with a very good builder with a team, but he only works to architectural drawings. Look in your local paper for an architect and go for a fixed fee.

let me know.

jaime_3

Hi Gav

We are looking into the possibility of building our own house - but are stumped at how on earth we find out about land that is for sale ... and also whether you can get planning permission for a plot before you commit to buying it. How did you find and buy your plot and can you give us any advice finding and buying land?

Thanks in anticipation

Jaime & Martin

luciddreamer

Hi all,

Thinking of building a house from scratch and need some ideas on how much it's all going to cost? Doesn't have to be an itemised list down to the last nut and bolt though.
It's going to be a 4 bedroomed detached house, 3 reception rooms, 1 kitchen, 2 ensuite bathrooms,
1 family bathroom and attached but sepearte garage (ie. not integral).
It's going to be very near existing gas/electric, water, sewerage mains and road access.
Any builders out there that can give me a rough estimate of total cost?
Things i will not be able to do myself:
Brick work, roofing, electrics, plumbing, internal and external rendering/plastering. Everything else i'll be ok with.
Will this bring the price down a lot?
Cheers,
Gav

Hi ya gavin
I'm an electrician in the N London area and would be happy to give you any advice you need.
If you could fax me your Plans i could give you a rough estimate that you should expect (but it depends on area)
Depending on which area you are in i may be able to get you materials at trade price since i have accounts with electrical wholesalers.
If you want advice on electrics you can call me on 07958 598 964 between 8am & 6pm(this goes for anyone else wanting advice)
Also if anyone is going to the homebuilding & renovating show at wembly i will be there out side giving out flyers for my company Electrical Concepts on friday and saturday and will be happy to help you out!!

houseboy

Hi,

Remember my price guide does not include land cost.
Depending where you live (Glasgow for me) and where you want to build it can vary hugely.
The guide I gave was for timber kit, very common in Scotland and becoming more popular in England.
Timber kit contruction means you can get your house wind and water tight in two weeks from underbuilding stage and removes most wet trades from the buid.
I work for a large house builder and finding a plot to build on is very hard (all the staff seem to be doing it on the side... building their own houses that it ;D) try looking at very old / knackered building with a view to rebuilding completely and add to your budget.
Finaly have a look at some timber kit prices on the web you may be surpised.

HB

vansboy

Are you good at pulling your hair out??

We sold our yard to a private builder 2 years ago -he's a bricklayer, by trade & has actually done it twice before.

We sold it after HE obtained outline planning, for 2 dwellings.

The FINAL plans have STILL not been passed by the council & he's in a caravan,Mrs also, on what was our yard!!18 months later!!

Result = we've had our £$£$£$ but still got an empty piece of ground, behind our house, with a building site mess, to look forward too!!

& prices D
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There are quite a few plots around, once you start looking!

& rough figures, third for land, or more, third for build,third for X's somewhere around 10-15% would be 'profit'

Doesn't add up, does it??

Thats why we sold, rather than try it ourselves!!

VB
   

reubenpeckham

With regards to finding suitable plots to build- the simple answer is that it is not straight forward. I know a little about the planning system and can offer the following advice.

If you buy any plot without planning permission you are taking a massive gamble. However, the risk can be reduced by consulting your local authority planning department before you purchase and also by looking at the local authority local plan. This is, however, generally the cheapest way of obtaining land.

As a rule of thumb, the more houses you can see from the plot, the more chance you have of getting planning permission. If the site is in a rural area with no buildings anyway near it, unless you wish to breed farm animals you're better off forgetting about it.

There is one potential loophole to building on undeveloped greenfield sites and this would be to present a detailed (as opposed to outline) design of a house which has significant architectural merit. However, in doing so you should be prepared for the need to appeal (a planning committee is unlikely to approve this). The cost of the appeal can be significant (between £5,000 and £30,000, depending upon the number of professionals you need to employ).

Another way round the system is to present a very strong need case. For example, you need to be on site because you run a business from it. As an example a friend of mine recently obtained planning permission to construct a house on a beautiful site on the edge of the River Test. He won this on appeal on the basis that he needed to be on the site to operate the sluice gates at all times.

Many house builders identify a suitable plot and then take out an option agreement with the landowner. This enables them to apply for planning permission to develop the site with an opt-out if the permission is not granted. If the permission is granted they are legally obliged to purchase it for the agreed price.

A more expensive, but less risky strategy would be to find a site with an existing (knackered) house and demolish and rebuild- planning guidelines state that you shouldn't increase the floor area by more than 100%, but you have a very good chance of getting this through providing it blends in with it's surrounding area.

The most obvious choice is to purchase a plot which already has planning permission- the most expensive option- and you may need to resubmit the plans if you wish to change/ customise the designs to mark your own needs.

Anyway, I hope this helps. Personally, I'd love to build my own house, however, I just cann't find a suitable site.

Robert_Sterling_3

Building Plots for Sale ... I have never bought one anywhere else