Beginner's guide to self-build

There are many benefits to building your own house. It is an opportunity to create a unique home tailored around your lifestyle. It can be a route to creating a home that will adapt as your needs change, for instance accommodating wheelchair use. It also offers scope to build a property that is low maintenance and energy efficient.

What's more, self-builders often achieve a larger home and garden compared to buying a new home on the open market - the average self-build project is 247m²*, more than double the size of the average new-build developer home. And, as an added bonus, self-builders typically enjoy a handsome profit of 25% on their investment*.

Once you've decided to build your own home, there are some key questions you need to begin answering: where will you build your new home, what do you hope to build, how will you finance your project, who will build it and how will it be built, for instance. Follow our in-depth beginner's guide to find out how to start this incredible journey...

Pre-build essentials

Here are some of the key things you need to consider before going on site' with your build 

Once you have purchased your plot there are a good number of steps you need to take before you can begin building your dream home…

Designing your new home

You’ll likely need a designer on board to help you formulate plans for your dream home. This might be an architect, an architectural technologist, an architectural designer or an in-house designer at a package company. The design process is likely to take at least a couple of months, possibly considerably longer. Then you’ll need to apply for planning permission…

Applying for planning permission

The cost of submitting a planning application varies across the UK, but is currently £462 in England. However, the real cost of obtaining planning permission arguably comes from design fees to prepare plans and documents, as well as any surveys that may be required to support your application.