| Self-building
is not just a preserve of do-it-yourselfers, but a reliable
way to make a large capital sum from a property, so long as
you provide the elbow grease.
There are five golden rules to follow:
1. Find a building plot - extremely difficult
as there are so few (especially since planning departments
have to promote derelict brownfield locations) and in any
case developers snap them up quickly. Land takes up to 35
per cent of the total cost.
2. Architect-design or kit house? Kits cost
up to £125,000 before costs but have orthodox designs
that lack your personal stamp. If you want your home to stand
out, an architect may charge up to £8,000.
3. Get outline planning permission - most
lenders require it before offering a mortgage. Detailed permission
can wait until later, although again lenders will want it
before releasing tranches of money.
4. Arrange funding - few lenders offer self-build
products. Norwich and Peterborough building society is the
best known for those building from scratch, while the Ecology
lends on wrecks needing total renovation.
The Mortgage Business, part of HBOS, offers
self-build mortgages with payment holidays for customers using
Buildstore. co.uk. But even these lenders often offer only
75 per cent of land and 60 per cent of build costs. The National
House Building Council recommends you add 10 per cent to the
your budget for emergencies.
5. Build it - kit manufacturers recommend
local builders who have worked with their products before.
Otherwise check with the Master Builders Federation for quality
contacts. Get quotes with guaranteed start and end dates.
A big cause of overspending is time slippage, during which
you pay the builders and your own accommodation costs or a
bridging loan if you are living in a conventional house.
Top tips
Self-building can be prone to overspending
and overrunning. It is possible to insure against this, against
damage during construction caused by weather, theft or vandalism,
and against claims caused by injury during construction. Insurance
brokers will help
What you don't know about self-building
#Britain’s Green Belt isn’t disappearing
under concrete. It’s expanding by 30,000 acres a year
#National Parks and Areas of Outstanding
Natural Beauty cover almost a quarter of the country
#Urban regeneration isn’t just a buzzword.
It’s a reality with more than half the new homes built
during the 90s on brownfield sites
#The number of people living alone is set
to increase by 2.7 million by 2021
#We are building fewer new homes annually
than at any time since the second world war. Excluding the
war years fewer new homes were built in 2002 than at any time
since 1924
#New homes can help prevent flooding and
save water by using Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems and
rainwater harvest systems
#We need more housing to be affordable. Only
by building enough homes to meet demand can prices be brought
under control to allow everyone to buy a decent home of their
own
#The Government wants to see 60 per cent
of new homes built on brownfield sites by 2008. This target
has already been beaten
#The average brand new home is up to four
times more energy efficient than its Victorian equivalent
#Anti-development campaigners often say once
land is built on it has “gone forever”. This is
not true, if it was brownfield land wouldn't exist
#If all homes were as energy-efficient as
new homes, we would already be beating our Kyoto target to
cut greenhouse gases.
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