Learn From The Developers

Self-builders often have a sniffy attitude to their commercial housebuilding cousins. After all, the reason that so many of us build our own homes each year is because were rejecting the housing that they have to offer.

However, there is a justification for recognising their expertise in many of the areas that us amateurs struggle in namely finding land and bringing in projects on time and on budget. Also, for the many self-builders for whom their next project will be a home they decide to sell on within the next few years, it pays to see how a developer approaches the process from a viewpoint of maximising profits.

The three biggest housebuilders in the UK are Barratt, Persimmon and Wimpey. Between them they will build more than 40,000 houses this year. Their products may not appeal to us all, but there is no doubt they have a huge experience of developing new homes at a good profit (Persimmons profit margin was 23% in 2005). So are there lessons that self-builders can learn from these companies?

Finding Land

Finding suitable land is a key part of any housebuilders business. The large companies understand the land supply system and have built up extensive contact networks with land agents and planning officers.

How can self-builders adopt a similar approach? Firstly, make contact with the local planning authority for the area of your search: many planning departments operate a duty officer arrangement, so you can talk to a planner without a prior appointment. Talk to a planner about your intentions, where you are looking, what type of home you want to build and your preferred style. You will almost certainly get feedback that will enable you to judge how much help or resistance you are likely to receive when you make an application. The planner will refer you to the district Local Plan or the equivalent for the area. You should consider getting hold of one. Planners will be more likely to discuss your ideas in principle if you have done your homework and know of the policies the authority has laid down.

Mark Wilson of MSW Consulting has worked as a land director with a number of the major housebuilding companies and says: Many of the large companies still carry out focused land searches by pawing over detailed OS plans of the area and researching land ownerships from the Land Registry website. This may be timeconsuming and it can give rise to many abortive leads, but a close examination of an OS plan at 1:1250 or 1:2500 scale can pinpoint large gardens and backland plots which may be available.

Its also surprising how many sites are unearthed by getting in the car and driving around the area, knocking on doors and politely asking questions.

The final lesson here is to build up relationships with local agents. It is vital that agents know you are looking in the area. They will be keen to find buyers quickly and good building plots don't stay on the market long. Make sure the agents know who you are and what you are looking for in terms of location preferences, size and price. And make sure that you have funding in place: agents won't want to see a sale fall through because the buyer can't get funding.

Planning Permission

This is the part of the business that gives chief executives most of their grey hairs. Insufficient outline approvals are granted; there is too much delay when they are granted and the conditions attached to permissions are becoming more and more onerous.

So if the experts suffer these problems, what hope is there for the self-builder? Make no mistake - the major companies still obtain planning permissions in large numbers and are adept at minimising the cost implications of conditions. Their approach can be broken down into three stages:

1. Establishing the principle of development. All planning applications, whether for a single home or for a new settlement, must now be accompanied by a design statement. Guidance on the preparation of the statement is issued by each planning authority. It is tempting to view the design statement as yet another piece of useless paperwork; that would be a mistake and a missed opportunity. Mark Massey, Senior Partner at Architects ID Partnership Northern, has worked with all the major housebuilders and has successfully gained planning permissions for thousands of new homes on developments large and small. Mark says: The design statement is your chance to explain the background to, and the thinking behind, your proposal. Don't leave it entirely in the hands of your architect to prepare, although they should have input. The content should reflect your own thinking about the site: its attraction to you, why you have chosen it and how you have developed your design to reflect the site and your own requirements. This is also chance to explain your proposals to the people who will become your neighbours.

2. Justifying the design. Self-builders can do a great deal of local research to help support and justify the design decisions embodied in the planning application. Take photographs of local buildings that reflect your thinking. The photos dont need to be of entire buildings, just concentrate on details that support your design. Don't assume planners will be familiar with all local building styles: they are unlikely to know the area as well as local residents and time spent looking around the neighbourhood, talking to locals and collecting photos can put you in a much stronger position when it comes to discussing your application.

3. Containing the extent of any conditions. The large companies spend a lot of time cleaning planning permissions. This is the process of negotiating agreement on as many as possible of the matters that concern the planning authority before the application is decided, thereby minimising the number of conditions required, before reaching agreement on any required conditions - such as materials, highway issues and boundary details - as quickly as possible after the permission is issued. This approach reduces the company's risks by eliminating as many unknowns as early as possible. Its an approach that can be adopted by the self-builder, although it requires self discipline. It is tempting to feel that the hard work is over when the planning officer begins to talk in terms of issuing an approval, but it is then that the real negotiations begin. It is wise to push for agreement on as much detail as possible at this stage. The planner may prefer to issue an approval with pages of standard conditions but it is worth trying to get as much agreement as possible, it will help to fix costs earlier and it brings certainty to ordering and buying. Your photos of local details will help here. Dont be tempted to pass this job onto your architect they are unlikely to be so concerned with cost as you.

House Design

A major housebuilders approach to the design of a new home is likely to be quite different to that of a self-builder. The housebuilding company's brief to their designer will be based on purchaser feedback and buildability. It will be definite about floor area and may seek to minimise frontage, while including a single or double garage. The housebuilder's aim is to produce the maximum quantity of saleable floor space, taking into account planning attitudes and the mixture of homes required to obtain a good sales rate.

The self-builder is unlikely to share these aims, but the techniques used in the process are of real use to self-builders:

1. A clear vision of the end product. Housebuilders will brief a designer with a definite end product in mind and the designers proposal will be measured against this. The more closely and objectively you can define what is important to you, the easier you will make the designers job.

2. Buildability. This is a concept used to assess the ease (or otherwise) with which a design can be built. Applied along with the related concept of value engineering, designs are assessed to establish whether they represent value for money in terms of speed of build, efficiency in the use of materials, logical sequencing of trades and the like. But where can the self-builder turn for such advice? If you are working in partnership with a builder then there is a lot of useful input that they can give you. You may feel it is worthwhile to seek out a quantity surveyor for their input: housebuilders recognise a good quantity surveyor as a key member of the team.

3. The design process. Mark Massey has designed ranges of homes for many of national housebuilders; when it comes to design efficiency he advises, Begin by concentrating on the core of the house. Consider how these elements will relate to the site features: the best views, the orientation of the site, existing landscape and so on. Work on the other areas only once youre happy with the arrangement and size of the outside of the building. The design process should start with some simple bubble diagrams and only move to layout drawings when you're happy with the interrelationship of the key rooms. This approach can help get more living space from your total area and can minimise dead space or space after planning, as I call it: space which is of very little use but costs just the same as the good stuff!

Mark also suggests that clients use a sign-off process. The client signs off each stage of the build and allows further development to proceed, allowing clients to focus on the increasing degree of detail required as the design progresses.

The leading housebuilders have recognised that developing new homes requires a different skills set to other forms of developing and building. For the self-builder, who is likely to utilise general construction contractors, it can be difficult to bring specialist skills in on their project. Remember though, there is no substitute for specialist experience, particularly if you are seeking to minimise your risks, so do not hesitate to question designers, contractors and the other various tradesmen you meet about exactly how much experience they have in this field. Building a one-off new home differs in many ways from volume housebuilding, but some of the housebuilders specialist skills can come in really useful to get you the most for your hard-earned cash.

Plots

The large housebuilders devote a lot of time and resources to finding land and getting necessary planning permission. Bellway Homes, for example, which builds around 7,000 homes a year, currently has some 25,000 individual building plots in its landbank, complete with planning permission. Bovis, which builds just 2,700 homes, has 13,000 plots in its landbank.

How they build houses

20% of all new homes built in the UK are built using timber frame. The figure varies wildly by region, however, with timber frame accounting for around 13% of the total in England and Wales and an enormous 73% in Scotland. The larger housebuilders use a combination of all of the main construction types, and are beginning to use newer technologies such as SIPs.

Further Reading:

• Six Key Stages to a Stress-free Project
• A Complete Guide to Self Build
• The Project Manager's Toolkit