On the Rise: the Success of Self-Build
Self-build is a phrase that is getting ever-popular in the housing market. Hold on, what exactly is “self-build”? It’s a property you build yourself. Not quite literally by yourself, but you place yourself in the position as architect, planner, foreman of your property and let trained workers do the job you tell them to do. More individuals are opting for the “self-build” route – as a matter of fact, there are more self-builders in the UK than the total number of houses being developed by any single developer. The purpose of self-build is to produce a property to your exact specifications, not a boiler-plate design that commercial developers use.
I know what you’re thinking: “I can’t plan, and manage a house build”. The good news is that self-build doesn’t mean you necessarily have to get stuck in with the actual development (as a matter of fact, just 5% of self-builders in reality take a role in the actual building of the property). Even the design aspects are often finalised by a professional designer. Self-build, generally, is about you articulating (in laymen’s terms), what you want to the house designer – who then produces a plan dependent on your prerequisites. This plan then becomes the draft the developers follow. Now do you see? You don’t need to have any proactive engagement in self-build. Even so, the DIY enthusiast can use self-build as a chance to save some dosh by helping out with the aspects of self-build they have experience in – it’s your shout as to how much engagement you want during the construction.
Self-build sounds pricy, but in reality it’s by and large cheaper than buying an already developed property of identical specifications (up to 30% cheaper). That’s not all, self-built houses sell very well too – as much as 25% higher than the development costs, so you can view self-build also as a means to invest your money, rather than just a home to live in
You must ensure the group of workers you select are 100% competent and that they can work as a team. Without doubt, you will require workers with lots of experience, particularly with specific types of building machinery, such as floor saws, wall saws with diamond blades, angle grinders, masonry saws and stihl saws. With a skillful gang, you are also maximizing the safety levels of the build.
This article is just an introduction to the concept of building a home by yourself, and I trust it will encourage those of you who are intimidated by the thought of planning a project of this kind of size. It needn’t take up all of your time, and you won’t need house building / designing skills, but you will need to be cautious as to who you employ, and you will need to cautiously work out the budget of the project.
