Introducing the Ultimate in DIY: Self-Build
In spite of the recession, “self-build” houses are still popular. Why? Because they’ve invariably provided better value for money than simply buying a property. So what is “self-build”? It’s a house you build yourself, as the phrase hints! Not necessarily only by yourself, but you set yourself in the position as foreman, architect, planner of your property and let skilled workers do the task you order them to do. More people are choosing the “self-build” route – in fact, there are more self-builders in the UK than the total number of properties being built by any single developer. The intention of self-build is to produce a house to your exact specifications, not a boiler-plate design that commercial developers use.
I know what you’re thinking: “But I’m not a builder”. The pleasant news is that self-build doesn’t mean you inevitably have to dive in with the actual building (in point of fact, only around 5% of self-builders in reality take a role in the actual construction of the property). Even the design aspects are often finalised by a professional designer. Self-build, more often than not, is about you articulating (in plain English), what you need to the property designer – who then develops a plan based on your requirements. This plan then becomes the draft the developers work to. Easy, eh? It’s not required to have any active involvement in self-build. Even so, the DIY fan can use self-build as a chance to save some wonga by helping out with the aspects of self-build they have experience in – it’s up to you how much involvement you want during the build.
Self-build sounds costly, but actually it’s generally cheaper than buying an already developed home of the same specifications (up to 30% cheaper). That’s not all, self-built properties fetch a good price too – up to 25% higher than the actual build cost, 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 choose are total professionals and that they develop well together. For sure, you will need workers with lots of experience, particularly with specific types of construction machinery, such as floor saws, wall saws with diamond blades, angle grinders, masonry saws and stihl saws. With a skillful team, you are also raising the safety levels of the development.
This article is just an introduction to the concept of constructing a home by yourself, and I hope it will inspire those of you who are perhaps a little scared by such projects. It needn’t be time-intensive, and you won’t need house building / designing skills, but hire carefully, and you will need to carefully work out the budget of the project.
