A Budget Four Bedroom Self-build

Talk to some self-builders and they make you think twice about taking on a project, recalling accounts of dodgy tradesmen, planning applications that took years to get through, disapproving neighbours, difficult ground conditions and so on. There are others, however, that make it sound so easy that you are inspired to have a go yourself - and this is the category that Roger and Kay McEvoy fall into.

Despite being their first venture into self-build and both holding down busy jobs, Roger and Kay have built a four bedroom family home on a beautiful plot of land, on time and on an impressively reasonable budget of £182,000 and feel that the whole thing couldn't have gone better.

The couple had just completed the renovation of their 1930s house, and decided that the time was right to take on a self-build. "We sold our house and moved into rented accommodation to release cash to be able to make an offer as soon as we found the right plot," says Kay. Keen to stay in Warwick and close to the town centre, finding a plot of land could have been difficult, but, after just two weeks of living in the rented house, Roger came across a garden plot for sale whilst browsing the local council website, complete with approval for a detached house and just 500m from the school they were planning on sending their children, 12-year-old Joe and Lucy, six.

"The plot was perfect," says Roger, "and it was just big enough to accommodate our target size house of 200m². I immediately went to the site and knocked on the door of the owners house to express our interest. Within a week we made a written offer, with proof that we were cash buyers."

After several weeks, Roger and Kay's offer was accepted, but as the months went by the couple tried to keep their hopes up as they waited for a covenant on the land, which prevented any building from going ahead, to be lifted by a local charity who previously owned the land. Keen to keep a sense of momentum going, the couple spent this time planning their budget, which they worked out using the build cost table in H&R, and came up with a design themselves.

Their design was for a house in keeping with the other properties in the area, and they stuck to traditional materials such as clay roof tiles, cast stone cills and brick and block construction.

"During this wait we decided to re-submit our planning application for a slightly larger house," says Roger. "At first we did receive some objections from neighbours, so we visited them, showing them our plans and taking along brick and roof tile samples. It worked, and with the help of a local planning consultant, who wrote a design brief and site appraisal for them, planning was passed."

Acting as project manager meant Roger was responsible for hiring all the trades and, although they admit to breaking one of the first rules of self-build by often going with the first quote they received, they never experienced any problems. "We went with our hearts," says Kay. "We knew we would be closely involved with the build and so needed to be sure that we could work well alongside anyone we hired."

"The build-up to the start of the groundworks was so exciting," says Roger, "that is until the JCB made its first scrape of the ground and we found a two-inch gas pipe that served the neighbours house just 300mm below the ground, five metres in front of where the front wall was to be. I almost cried that night! In the end we had to delay the bricklayers and wait 13 weeks for it to be moved. We proceeded with the pipe in situ in the cavity of the front wall until it was finally removed."

Roger made daily visits to the site to check on progress, purchasing an old pick-up for £1,000 to transport materials to site.

Beam and block construction was specified for the ground and first floors in order to ensure maximum heat output from the underfloor heating, as well as to allow easier construction of the wetrooms. Within four months the structure was watertight.

The ground floor revolves around the light, spacious entrance hall, the focal point of which is a contemporary staircase. "We knew we wanted the staircase to be something special, but we couldn't afford a bespoke design from a specialist." says Roger. Instead, Roger asked a joiner friend to come up with a basic open-tread oak staircase to which Roger and Kay fitted glass balustrades. The result is impressive and cost them under £4,000.

As with the majority of the work, Kay and Roger fitted the underfloor heating themselves throughout the house, and say they will never again have radiators. "The house is always a comfortable temperature and it works so well in the en suite wetrooms," says Kay.

Roger and Kay's life revolved around the build for its nine-month duration, with them spending every weekend and many evenings on site, not only decorating, but also carrying out a long list of first fix jobs, fitting the timber windows and doors (including the folding sliding doors), installing the wiring for the home technology, fitting the rainwater goods and central vacuum, and carrying out the landscaping. "Although the build took up all of our time, we worked as a team - Lucy and Joe both designed and decorated their own bedrooms roping in friends and family.

"We plan to stay put while the children grow up, but we definitely want to build again," says Kay.

"We played it pretty safe in design terms with this build," continues Roger, "but next time we'd like to build something more contemporary and include more green features" (the couple have since set up a rainwater harvesting company, Ecozi; ecozi.com).

"There were stressful times and there were days that felt like the end of the world but you could count them on one hand."

Further reading:

• An Award-winning Self-build for just £59,000
• A Five Bedroom Home for Just £150,000
• A Dutch-inspired DIY Home Built for Just £128,000