How to Build to a (Relatively) Small Budget: Part 1

ABOVE: H&R Editor Jason Orme (author of this article) achieved a £900/m² build cost on his self-build project by simplifying the external design and being pragmatic in materials choices — for instance, sacrificing sliding sash windows for top-hung lookalikes. He also – with the help of family – carried out plenty of finishing/ joinery/ decorating and landscaping works, saving £1,000s. Read more about this self-build.

Well, first of all, what is a modest budget for a self-build project? Build cost tables indicate that the average build cost is around £1,200/m², but this average covers a wide variety of achieved costs. In my ten years of working on the magazine I have met hundreds of self-builders and I’ve seen build costs vary from £400/m² all the way up to £3,000/m². It’s not rocket science to know that the variations depend on factors such as location, level of ‘self-build’ involvement, ambition of design, and quality of finish. However, it’s also true to say that some people achieve high-quality, high-design homes with minimal hands-on involvement while others seem to spend incredulous amounts of money on a home that’s no better than developer standard.

You might have also noticed that when we talk about budgets we tend to use cost/m² figures rather than all-in sums. The building industry works on a size-cost approach — the bigger it is, the more expensive. Many builders will quote on this basis and many products (such as flooring) use it too. So it’s important to understand that the number one rule of building to a budget is to build small. You’re unlikely to be able to build a 300m² house (around double the developer take on a four-bed detached) for less than £150,000; equally, you’ll be hard-pushed to spend £200,000 on a 90m² bungalow. That said, there are plenty of other rules to follow, as the rest of this article explains. It’s aimed at getting you to a budget between £500-1,000/m².

Minimise Your Design Fees

Design fees can have a significant impact on your build budget: expect to pay £5-10,000 in fixed fees for design drawings from a qualified architect/technician or between 8- 12% of the build cost for the full supervisory service — which even on a low build cost of £150,000 is around £15,000 you simply can’t afford to spend.

The good news is that you can minimise these costs significantly with clever planning at the early stages. If you follow the principles of simple design (see below) then you can come up with, at the very least, a concept drawing that you could hand to a local designer to work up into full planning and building drawings. You pay a big chunk of your design fees for the creativity and ideas of the designer — doing all of this beforehand means that you can reduce potentially £1,000s of costs to mere £100s. Alternatively, by using a design/build package company, you’ll save having to pay upfront fees, although these tend to be clawed back in slightly higher-than-average materials costs. However, package companies do have expertise in bringing in projects on very low budgets, so they should definitely be an option worth considering.

Simplify the External Design

You can set your project off on the right course at an early stage with a design that takes into account your lower budget expectations. Unsurprisingly, the easiest house to build is a box shape (not just because it maximises laying runs, but also because it makes the roof shape as simple as possible, whether it’s pitched or hipped). Just look at any developer-built housing estate — it’s usually crammed with houses based on the above principles, which just happen to be similar to those employed in Georgian house design.

You can minimise build costs even further at this stage by designing out many of the potentially expensive features. No one’s suggesting you build a house without windows, but do you need quite so many, what size are they, and what design? Clearly, the fewer and smaller the windows, the better. You can also save significant amounts of money by sacrificing design features that are preferential but not always essentials: chimneys, porches and the like.

"We built our own home for £126,000"

John and Jill Price’s charming timber-clad Cambridgeshire home is very much the result of plenty of so-called ‘sweat equity’ from former engineer John. “We had recently retired and wanted to move in the same village to something which would help us to achieve a solid base of equity. We found an old 1940s Colt bungalow ripe for redevelopment. After getting the house designed – a process in which we also got involved – we took on, I would say, around 90% of all the tasks.” This involved everything from demolishing the existing property to installing the floor structure, laying all the blockwork, doing the roofing, fitting windows and doors, the ceiling and stud work, making the oak staircase and much more besides.

The work was completed in two phases and took the best part of four years, but the savings that John and Jill have managed to achieve – their build cost was just £126,000 (at just £455/m²) – are astonishing.

Read more about this budget self-build...

"For me, self-building means building it yourself...

Brian Badger is the first to admit that the house he built for his family over a decade ago is not going to set any design trails blazing; what it does do, however, is provide a good example of affordable self-build in its truest sense. “For me, self-build really does mean building it yourself, and over 40 years of building houses I’ve found that timber frame is the most compatible system with DIY. I get the timbers delivered to site and then cut them as required, often working from my own plans — although novices could always get the plans drawn up. The panels are lightweight enough to erect by hand. In fact, apart from electricians and plumbers, the only help I need on site after that is a crane to bring in the attic trusses. They cost extra, but provide a very efficient use of the space.” Brian’s house cost him around £600/m² to build and was so successful he ended up building more in his Warwickshire village. “Building homes through self-build is not just about building cheap — it’s about clever design and efficient use of the available space,” he says.

Read part two for advice on specifications, project management and sourcing materials...

More Budget Self-builds:

• A Hillside Home for £140,000
• An Eco House Built for £60,000
• A Four Bedroom Home Built for £125,000

Further reading:

• The Ten Rules of Building a House for Under £150,000
• The Secrets of Building to a Budget
• Save £1000s on Your Self-build by Negotiating

	Great Value Homes - 25 Inspirational self-build homes from £25,000-£241,000.
	Great Value Self-Build Homes 2nd Edition - You don't have to be rich to build your own home. This books contains 48 of the best examples of individual homes created on absolutely ordinary budgets, by self-builders of all different backgrounds.