Thoughts on self build cost
Discussion
Can anyone give me a rough idea of building a timber framed house to the following size and spec?
1. 3 or 4 bedroom detached bungalow around 1500 sq. ft + detached double garage
2. Assume the plot has all services available.
3. Assume detailed planning permission has been granted.
I appreciate that the final cost will vary greatly depending on the quality of the finishes, kitchen and bathroom but any approx. costs would be helpful at this stage.
Thanks and all the best.
Martin.
1. 3 or 4 bedroom detached bungalow around 1500 sq. ft + detached double garage
2. Assume the plot has all services available.
3. Assume detailed planning permission has been granted.
I appreciate that the final cost will vary greatly depending on the quality of the finishes, kitchen and bathroom but any approx. costs would be helpful at this stage.
Thanks and all the best.
Martin.
the old 'piece of string' question!!!!!
prices will vary hugely depending on all sorts of factors such as where you live, materials quality, finish quality, cost of getting out the ground etc etc.
Then you have to price depending on whether you have no day to day involvement at all, have partial involvement and a good builder, project manage it yourself with lots of tradesmen or build it mostly yourself.
I see you are a project manager in the construction industry so I would expect you would want to manage the project yourself and you should have some reasonable knowledge of whats required - that will help as costs soar with poor project management.
Buy 'Homebuilding and Renovating' or some such mag - they have tables of build costs per sq ft in the back.
in answer to the original question but bearing in mind what i've said - I was looking to self build a 4 bed house of about 1800 sq ft a couple of years ago and looked at many options.
Ignoring the price of the land I was looking at a timber framed (Potton or similar) managed by a builder friend of high quality finish coming in about £250k
prices will vary hugely depending on all sorts of factors such as where you live, materials quality, finish quality, cost of getting out the ground etc etc.
Then you have to price depending on whether you have no day to day involvement at all, have partial involvement and a good builder, project manage it yourself with lots of tradesmen or build it mostly yourself.
I see you are a project manager in the construction industry so I would expect you would want to manage the project yourself and you should have some reasonable knowledge of whats required - that will help as costs soar with poor project management.
Buy 'Homebuilding and Renovating' or some such mag - they have tables of build costs per sq ft in the back.
in answer to the original question but bearing in mind what i've said - I was looking to self build a 4 bed house of about 1800 sq ft a couple of years ago and looked at many options.
Ignoring the price of the land I was looking at a timber framed (Potton or similar) managed by a builder friend of high quality finish coming in about £250k
Large amount will depend on the site and what ground works you have to do to make it safe to build on, I know my dads garage for example swallowed about £15k's worth of stone, cemement and metal before the first layer of stone could be laid as they discovered an underground spring when digging the foundations.
Thanks for the replies. The two main reasons for considering a self build are:
1. To live in a home built to my own specifications and layout.
2. To buy a decent sized plot (thinking 1/4 acre or thereabouts).
Thing is that there are already some very nice houses in semi-rural areas within 20 miles of my current location that are for sale at around £275-300K. Some of these houses are built on plots of around 1/5 to 1/4 acre. Whilst this price range is slightly above budget at the moment I do wonder if it is worth the hassle of considering self build.
All the best.
Martin.
1. To live in a home built to my own specifications and layout.
2. To buy a decent sized plot (thinking 1/4 acre or thereabouts).
Thing is that there are already some very nice houses in semi-rural areas within 20 miles of my current location that are for sale at around £275-300K. Some of these houses are built on plots of around 1/5 to 1/4 acre. Whilst this price range is slightly above budget at the moment I do wonder if it is worth the hassle of considering self build.
All the best.
Martin.
Kickstart said:
guess £150 - £200 per sq ft depending upon quality, gadgets etc
cheapest residential normally comes out at £100 per sq ft (up North) but this is not for a timber frame construction
I think you've mixed up square feet with metre rates cheapest residential normally comes out at £100 per sq ft (up North) but this is not for a timber frame construction
to the OP, LtD has pretty much covered it all, it can vary dramatically whereabouts in the UK you are, construction method, ground conditions, finish etc etc. The latest edition of Spons that I have to hand is 2002 (so a little old) and their 2002 rates for a detached residential dwelling are between £700 to £1000/m2 plus VAT. There are 10.76 sq ft in a m2.
1500sq ft is about 140m2 so build costs of anywhere between £98k and £140k plus VAT. This is for a main contractor including preliminaries and OHP. Now, I would reckon £150k (plus VAT) would get you a decent spec house with careful planning and execution, there are a million variables as has been stated, though this will get you started.
Nuisance_Value said:
1500sq ft is about 140m2 so build costs of anywhere between £98k and £140k plus VAT. This is for a main contractor including preliminaries and OHP. Now, I would reckon £150k (plus VAT) would get you a decent spec house with careful planning and execution, there are a million variables as has been stated, though this will get you started.
VAT on a new build?sleep envy said:
Nuisance_Value said:
1500sq ft is about 140m2 so build costs of anywhere between £98k and £140k plus VAT. This is for a main contractor including preliminaries and OHP. Now, I would reckon £150k (plus VAT) would get you a decent spec house with careful planning and execution, there are a million variables as has been stated, though this will get you started.
VAT on a new build?I also missed the garage so this would be extra too
edit: I should also add, these approximate costs do not include external/landscaping works or any type of professional fees.
Edited by Nuisance_Value on Wednesday 19th August 11:21
Just an observation - four bedrooms in 140 sqm is a pretty tight squeeze.
If you're building for yourself you have the luxury of ignoring Sarah Beeny and other builders who build for profit. You can spend as much (or as little) as you like on your own home.
However to be realistic and provide yourself a safety net if your circumstances change or something happens during the build, you should consider the end value of the property you're planning. As such, there's no point in building a mansion on a tiny plot in the rough end of town. Equally though, you're going to reduce the value of a property if you buy a big plot in a nice area and put in a small house with cheap finish.
The 'experts' recommend comparing the value of similar houses on similar plots and getting a feel for what is appropriate in the area so you don't under develop or over develop. They say you should decide on the ideal property for the plot and work out the budget rather than deciding on your budget and letting that dictate what you build. If you can't afford to make the most of a plot, then you should consider walking away and finding somewhere more suitable.
If you're building for yourself you have the luxury of ignoring Sarah Beeny and other builders who build for profit. You can spend as much (or as little) as you like on your own home.
However to be realistic and provide yourself a safety net if your circumstances change or something happens during the build, you should consider the end value of the property you're planning. As such, there's no point in building a mansion on a tiny plot in the rough end of town. Equally though, you're going to reduce the value of a property if you buy a big plot in a nice area and put in a small house with cheap finish.
The 'experts' recommend comparing the value of similar houses on similar plots and getting a feel for what is appropriate in the area so you don't under develop or over develop. They say you should decide on the ideal property for the plot and work out the budget rather than deciding on your budget and letting that dictate what you build. If you can't afford to make the most of a plot, then you should consider walking away and finding somewhere more suitable.
Tuna said:
Just an observation - four bedrooms in 140 sqm is a pretty tight squeeze.
Agreed.You'll end up with one decent bedroom with ensuite, another decent bedroom without ensuite, a single room & a 'box' room.
Unless you 'need' the 4 bedrooms, definately consider making it a more spacious 3 bed, or increasing sqft by possible utilising roof space, if not already done so.
Autonotiv said:
Don't buy a timber frame house, they are s
t, have brick and block and float and set.
Given your profession, that is a bit ironic isn't it?t, have brick and block and float and set.From what I've seen there's nothing much in the timber v's brick and block debate - but a lot depends on the quality of the materials used, design, and the builders putting it up.
Our house is SIPs (timber sheet with an insulation sandwich) and the quality of the bare shell is stunning.
We have very almost just finished our 1500sq ft bungalow.
project managed ourselves and build to reasonably high quality (villroy and boch sanitry, Crown walnut kitchen with granite etc), ours was block not timberframed, and we had to pile the foundations, dont have an exact figuare (got too depressed half way through to keep the spread sheet up to date!) but i think it has cost in the region of 200k. This is an all in price including all archtect fees, NHBC solo, water and electric connections, driveway, fencing etc. You will need to add around 15k for the double garage.
Every thing takes longer than you think, everything is more complicated than you think and everthing cost more than you can imagine!!!
edited to add;
But it is worth it! (especially if your a control freak who likes everything 'just so')
Who wants to live in a house planned to make maximum profit? I want to live in one that is planned to our life style.
Also to add, you can easily get 4 double beds (def of double being over 12 X10 in my view) in 1500 sq foot. We only did 3 doubles with 1 ensuite however we could of changed the diner into a double if we wanted to, and got another ensuite put in, but as their are only 2 of us, and i wanted room for a pool table, we chose a dinning/pool room instead.
project managed ourselves and build to reasonably high quality (villroy and boch sanitry, Crown walnut kitchen with granite etc), ours was block not timberframed, and we had to pile the foundations, dont have an exact figuare (got too depressed half way through to keep the spread sheet up to date!) but i think it has cost in the region of 200k. This is an all in price including all archtect fees, NHBC solo, water and electric connections, driveway, fencing etc. You will need to add around 15k for the double garage.
Every thing takes longer than you think, everything is more complicated than you think and everthing cost more than you can imagine!!!
edited to add;
But it is worth it! (especially if your a control freak who likes everything 'just so')
Who wants to live in a house planned to make maximum profit? I want to live in one that is planned to our life style.
Also to add, you can easily get 4 double beds (def of double being over 12 X10 in my view) in 1500 sq foot. We only did 3 doubles with 1 ensuite however we could of changed the diner into a double if we wanted to, and got another ensuite put in, but as their are only 2 of us, and i wanted room for a pool table, we chose a dinning/pool room instead.
Edited by satans worm on Thursday 20th August 08:26
It depends on how your spec, where you are and how much you'll do yourself.
I spoke to a friend who's a builder and struggles to build a decent product for much under £120 sq ft. But this obviously includes wages for labour you'll save if doing things yourself.
I would budget at least £120 sq ft and hope I didn't go to far over.
I spoke to a friend who's a builder and struggles to build a decent product for much under £120 sq ft. But this obviously includes wages for labour you'll save if doing things yourself.
I would budget at least £120 sq ft and hope I didn't go to far over.
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