Advice for the First Time Self-Builder

We asked the UK’s most experienced self-builder, David Snell, what advice he would give if he could have ten minutes with the least-experienced first-time would-be self-builder

Don’t listen to the doubters. If you mention the idea to those who haven’t got the courage or the imagination to build their own homes, they’ll always want to put you off. Family will think you’re mad. The Job’s comforter in the pub will always have a story about somebody three times removed who came a cropper.

Learn to listen for the right advice. Listen to those with direct experience. Talk to other self-builders who are well down the line with their project and learn from their experiences. Get the names of those who will be useful and make a separate note of those to avoid.

Read everything and anything you can about self-building. Pay particular attention to magazines, not only for their case histo­ries but for the advertisements that’ll keep you abreast of what’s new in the self-build world.

Learn the sequences through a building project, including not only what happens when and in what order once things have started but all that has to go on beforehand during the planning and Building Regulations process.

If it’s at all possible, cultivate a professional mentor: someone with direct knowledge of the building industry who’ll help guide you through the process.

Your Budget is King.
It doesn’t matter how keen you are to self-build or how exciting your proposed plans are, if you can’t afford to build them then it’s all a non-starter. By all means push the financial boat out. Natural inflation, your greater wages expectations and the increased equity you’re building in may well mean that it’s sensible to build the biggest house you can afford. After all, 10% p.a. inflation on a house worth £100,000 gives you £10,000 in a whole year. But the same inflation applied to a £200,000 house gives you twice as much. And whilst you can always change the level of fittings and fixtures within a home, it’s not always as easy to make rooms bigger.

However, make sure you design to the budget — not the other way around. And never lose sight of the re-sale value of the home. Never put more into the project than you need to in order to get the most out of it.

Add a contingency. It probably won’t get used up in one calamitous event; almost certainly it’ll get used in the cost ‘creep’ throughout the project. And don’t forget that the budget is one thing but cash flow's another. It might all work out on paper at the end but you’ve got to get through from week to week and keep the site going. So you need positive cash flow throughout the job and you need to budget for things like the VAT that you’ll have to lay out and which won’t come back for up to 12 weeks after you’ve finished.

Be aware of time.
Don’t underestimate the amount of your time that building your own home will take up. You have to put the hours in. That may mean being on site at the crucial times. It may mean a watching brief and on some days it might mean not being able to get away. It’ll certainly mean a 100% commitment to think­ing and planning your project and whilst you will have to balance that with your other life and work obligations, it’s a fair bet that it will and should be almost constantly in your thoughts.

Don’t underestimate the time that the project will take. Almost all projects take longer than originally planned and, just as with the money, you’ll need to add in a time contingency.

Keep your discipline.
Be prepared for the stress that building your own home can place upon you and those around you. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. If you’re planning to do a load of the work yourself, your budgeting is based upon that fact, and when other responsibilities preclude that happening, you’re immediately in trouble. If you don’t make allowances for your own physical as well as mental capabilities then you’re starting off on the wrong foot.

Don’t be afraid of professionals.
However young you are and however old and august they are, it’s you that should remain in charge — do not feel pushed out of the experience. This is your new home, not theirs. And if you’re not happy with how things are going, don’t hesitate to call a halt, take time out and think things through.

Be prepared to compromise.
Digging your heels in can mean losing sight of the big picture — getting your new home built. Not everything will be 100% what you want.

Be careful with advice.
Don’t take advice from unknown sources at face value. If it comes from a sales person with a financial axe to grind, think carefully. Never hear just what you want to hear. Don’t take too much notice of siren voices but, equally, don’t take uncorroborated advice from single interest ‘pundits’.

Why self-build?

• A unique home designed entirely around your individual needs. Houses for sale on the market tend to be either old and draughty or new, soulless and poky — by building your own home you’ll be able to create exactly the spaces you want, specify the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and create a home that is truly appealing from the outside.
• You’ll save money and move up the housing ladder. Self-builders enjoy savings of between 10-30% on the finished value of the house they build. For example, a house that cost a self-builder £350,000 including land might be worth £450,000 once complete. As a result many self-builders build two or three times, eliminating their mortgage and ending up with a fabulous luxury home.
• You’ll get to enjoy the best fittings from the start. No more ‘doing up a room at a time’ and struggling to source the best fittings for your home. Self-builders can specify every detail of their new home from the start and include fabulous features such as underfloor heating, home automation, luxury showers and the like — none of which they would find in developer homes.

Read the rest of the 30 Minute Guide to Self-build:

• Advice on Finding a Plot
• Advice on Labour
• Advice on Projects
• Advice on Planning
• Advice on House Design
• Advice on Finance