[owain_thomas]

I know this is not specifically home cinema DIY but thought someone on here might have some experience of this sort of thing.

We are thinking of moveing soon and I was wondering about the logistics of building the house we want rather than buying. Can anyone give me somewhere I can get an idea of the cost per sq foot of house. I've searched Google but turned up only Us specific stuff which is not really what I need.

Cheers,

Owain

EDIT - I know this is going to very much depend on the type of house and the spec of the fixtures but some sort of ballpark figures or real life examples would be really helpful to decide whether to look into this further or stick with buying an existing one.

[CML]

I don't have any personal experience of building my own house, but building costs varies depending on where abouts in the UK you want to build and how much the land costs. Have a look locally at the new build house prices by the house construction companies, you might save yourself about 30%, depending on what kind of materials you use.

There are a few UK web sites for Self Builds, eg http://www.buildstore.co.uk/
To self build you will need to research quite alot on house construction, and to have good project management skills.

The other option is to employ an architect to do most of the work for you, ie, draw up floor plans, elevations, apply for planning permission, draw up detailed construction plans, produce an NBS specification, apply for building control, help you find a constuction company, liase with the builders etc. they will typically charge about 10% +VAT of the final construction costs.

Anyone a Quantity Surveyor here? They coud tell you the going rate or your local library might have a book called Spon's Architects and Builders price book, which should list prices per sqaure metre.

Although with regards to construction costs budget £X amount, and add an extra 20% extra, just to be on the safe side. Best of luck with your decision.

Regards,

CML

[stu mcc]

Owain,
We looked into this a couple of years ago and to be honest the cost of a building plot was absolutely crippling - you're looking at anything from 70 grand to whatever you like for a single plot (unless you fancy moving to Scotland!) Most big newsagents carry self build mags and Potton self build have a good web site; IIRC quotes per sq. ft. are £40 - £70 ish depending on the standard of finish but again you can virtually go to any figure you like.

[Greg]

My Aunt and Uncle were looking into this a few years ago, can't recall exactly but the plot was a much higher cost than the actual house itself. Don't quote me but some building plots were touching 100K with the house cost about 70K.

[CML]

If you want to self build to save money, then you'll probably won't save too much, unless you can do some of the work yourself. If you know what you want, like space for that 10 seater dedicated home cinema room complete with bar, it will cost quite a bit and almost always alot more than you had hoped for.

How would you finance the building? If you have to sell your house, where are you going to live for 1-2 years while it's being built?

[owain_thomas]

thanks for the replies. If we were to go ahead with this plan it would have to be do-able while continuing to live in our current flat, we'd then sell it when the new house was complete. Not sure if that would be possible yet as I can't even find the price/availability of plots of land in manchester (living in the US for another 3 weeks or so on a snowboarding season).

Does any one know of anywhere I can read about specific houses and how much they cost, that might give us a better idea of whether this idea has legs or not.

cheers,
owain

[woody67]

We use cost indices and have to factor in variables such as location, future date of planned work, type of construction etc. So any estimate, to be meaningful, has to have some basic data for the proposed work.

You could assume anything from £800 to £1500 per m2 for 'building costs' for a basic traditional small detached. This would not include land, connections to services or professional fees.

Land is at a premium at the moment. In the Midlands I've dealt with plots selling for between £100 and £180k for a 3-4 bed detached with small front and typical sized back gardens.

Having said that, you will get a much better house and it will be worth much more than an equivalent pre-built property.

[CML]

Hi Owain,

Originally Posted by owain_thomas

thanks for the replies. If we were to go ahead with this plan it would have to be do-able while continuing to live in our current flat, we'd then sell it when the new house was complete.

You have to be aware that the contractor/builder would have to be paid in stages during the construction of the house, he would use the money to pay his workers, sub contractors and for the materials already used or to order some more.

[Mango Bob]

I remember watching a Grand Designs program where the couple imported their house in flat-packs from the US.

They designed it online, the US company constructed it to spec (all wood-frame structures) and sent it over along with a few builders to train the UK builders they hired for construction.

Compared to other renovation builds on the show it looked comparatively painless...but still took nearly 2 years IIRC.

Apologies as I have no idea of costs or the construction company - you might be able to get details from the grand designs website or channel 4 though.

[woody67]

Do a google for " the £60,000 house " . This is a government initiative and will likely to entail homes mainly constructed off-site and assembled from 'flat-packs'

Or check out http://www.space4.co.uk/ who manufacture this type of house

[johndon]

There are a couple of self build magazines available that will give you an idea of cost for particular houses - Homebuilding and Renovating and Build It.

Bear in mind though that the cose per square foot depends entirely on the specification - you could have two people build the same house and one could do it for half the price of the other depending on spec.

The other posters are right though, you can spend far more on the land than on the build of the house.

John

[vex]

If you are around in April get to the Birmingham NEC for the Home Build and Renovating Show, 14 -17th April.

On and it is being shared with the launch of 'the smart home show' at the same time, one ticket lets you into both shows.

[MikeLat]

Ive been a developer of both residential and commercial properties for thirty years and there is a very simple and well proven formula for doing any building. Take the estimated final "on market" price of the completed property. Your land should cost between 25-30% and the total cost of build with all fees, connections, planning consents etc will be around 50%. The balance is the developers profit but you wont be paying that as a direct private person so either you can go a bit more on land cost or a higher build standard but better still keep the costs in line and sit on the 25% profit in the house for yourself. A decent quality 3/4 bedroom detached house of say 1600 sq feet, well fitted and equipped (quality kitchen, bathrooms and landscaping) should cost you from around £80 per square foot to the contractor plus fees to architect and professionals of around 12%, plus land. But for goodness sake if you know nothing about it, get a good architect.

Another simple way to make a value comparison if you know the asking price for the land is to multiply it by 4 and then ask yourself - or an Agent - if the finished house could sell on the market for that figure. It will give you a good quick guide as to whether the land is overpriced.

[owain_thomas]

thanks mikelat, thats very informative, I think I'll have a chat with some people when I get home and see how things pan out.

owain