House Builder's Diary

So, after a week and a bit of waiting I finally heard back from the planners after my 'pre-application advise'. And the outcome, well pretty positive really.

Though all i wanted was to have a quick informal chat about the some of the ideas for the scheme I was planning, but what I got back was a long involved email regarding the do's and don'ts of planning, which although was helpful for me, seemed a little unnecessary really, as the result led to ripping my ideas apart and I have had to go back to the drawing board, literally, and start from scratch, which means I will likely have to go through this process again.

The upshot of it is that I feel like I have produced a better design because of this, a least I have now added a bit of the contemporary design touches which led me to be interested in architecture. Ultimately, I feel as though if I am getting into house building, then I want to be setting president for the types of houses I want to be creating, and although I realize the importance of a basic design, in terms of cost, I think this doesn't mean it has to be boring.

Effectively the front of the house, is the same design as the rest of the street, but the back is the hidden treasure, with some great modern floor to ceiling windows, in the upstairs and the downstairs. I have also added a great long tall window at the top of the stairs which I hope will make the most of the great views across the fields next to the plot.

I'm starting to feel quite excited about the project again. However, with the likelihood of there being a pair of semis on the land now, it does beg the question of the extra finance. The build cost will almost have doubled! mountains of debt, here I come.......

Buying land (and houses for that matter) in this country sucks big time. Every time I have purchased a property in this country I have been immensely frustrated by the inadequacy and unbelievably slow pace at which things seem to crawl along. And even then, without a dot of security that at the end of the process that either on of the parties won't pull out!

I really thought buying land as a cash purchase would have been different. I thought great, we've got the money in the bank, all we need to do, tell the agent, they had over all the deeds to the solicitor, my solicitor does the searches which takes a couple of days we're done in a week. But no. This is how it has panned out so far.

1st Day of offer acceptance, I immediately meet my solicitor, we go through the ins and outs of the purchase, and I appoint him to handle the sale. I pass this information to the agent, they say they are waiting to hear who the vendors solicitor will be.

2nd Day, I call the agent telling him my solicitor is waiting for the Site details so he can start his searches, he tells me they are using such and such and I say superb, thinking this is swift, I'll be dancing on the barn roof in a week.

3rd Day, nothing

4th Day, nothing

5th Day, nothing,

6th Day, nothing, (can you see a pattern emerging)

3 weeks later, after another phone call from myself, the site plan is in the post (apparently), unbelievable, 3 weeks to get a plan in the post!!

I asked the agent what the hold up was, according to the vendors solicitor, dividing up land is a complex business, and can't happen overnight blah blah blah. Typical, in other word, Mr Solicitor is being totally patronizing and saying "I'm a lawyer and I'll do it when I get round to it, blah blah, so just wait till then." I can think of a great many things which are more complex than drawing a line on a map and then registering it, which can happen in 3 weeks. Pathetic.

So all the meanwhile, I am getting itchy feet, raring to get on with it. But, till the land is mine, I have to wait behind the imaginary line (so poetic).

So today I tried working through the entire build process in my head for the first time. It felt like a really useful exercise actually, as with everything at the moment I put in an excel chart, and tried to link each step to the specific trade. I find making lists incredibly cathartic and a great way to focus myself, and I'm really becoming a dab hand at using excel spreadsheets now. So worked from the beginning, starting with my first building inspection from the council (apparently you have to have one when work on site commences) then from there on I tried to think of each step in a logical order. Clearing the site, getting the surveyor out, setting out the foundations.etc.....

It's not easy really, I guess trying to figure out which stage comes before which without really knowing if it is the case or not.

One of the aspects of this build I'm really keen to explore is the use of SIP panels to construct the main core of the house. They are a 'Structurally Insulated Panel', essentially two boards of OSB wood sandwiching a think layer of strong bonded insulation. The thing that really appeals to me with the panels is the apparent ease and speed at which buildings can be constructed with them, as the they big panels, measuring about 1.2m x 2.4m. I think anything which can save time, and take away labour costs on site is a good thing. Though I'm not sure yet whether I would have to pay a whopping premium to use these panels in the first place.

As I said yesterday, I really wish I knew where i stood with the planning situation, as I could start firing my plans out for quotes to get some really firm answers about this sort of stuff.

So the biggest thing which is bugging me at the moment is what am I going to do with this land. The way i see it there are two main choices. I can go the safe route and plough on with a 4 bed detached house, as written in the planning permission. Or I can take the more risky, and delayed step of trying to get planning for a pair of semi-detached houses. Unfortunately I can't run the risk of applying for this until I have completed on the land, as the current land owner may see the value in it and pull out of the sale.

Having drawn up some plans for both, I'm pretty convinced that i could fit them on the land quite comfortably. The question is, is it going to be financially viable, and which project is going to make more money. At this stage it is quite hard to grasp the figures as I'm still feverishly trying to budget for the detached house, to give me at least an idea of a ball park figure, then I am assuming that the cost of the semis would be around double the build cost of the detached house, as in essence the floor area is almost double. That said, the finished cost of the individual semi would be less than the 4 bed detached house.

But surely there must be a lot of shared costs? Well I don't know yet, on the surface it looks like plant hire maybe shared, and site fencing and the admin etc. but these costs aren't going to make me save ££££s. There must be other savings which i haven't unearthed yet. Not only that, but there are probably cost which i have no idea about yet too, for building a detached house or otherwise!!

So the first thing I need to solve on this project is the barn. It's sat at the back of the site, and it's not an insubstantial building. The question is, what to do with it?

There's no question that it's going to have come down, the difficulty is how am I going to do it, should I simply get a JCB in and bring it to it's knees in a matter of minutes, scoop up the rubble into a big truck and see the back of it, of do I take it down bit by bit and see what I can salvage.

I reckon the roof alone is worth keeping as it's proper slate tiles, which appear in good condition, and besides which, apparently there is a condition of the planning that I need to take them off one by one to look for Bat droppings of all things! Suffice to say in the event that I may find the said droppings I'm not sure I'm going to shout too loudly about it, as I really don't want a Bat in my belfry to bring the project to a dead stop before it's begun.

I know it's not the greenest solution to trash the whole barn, but I reckon to get the ball rolling it might be my only option. I suppose with all self build there is a question of personal involvement. I said before I started this project that I want to do minimal labour, however, I am kind of resigning myself to the fact that it is going to be on the top of a tall ladder picking off the tiles and storing them neatly. We shall see.

My wife and I have decided to build a house.

Having never done it before it has been a life long dream of mine, and after many months of researching the market we have finally put an offer in on some land which has been accepted.

Bizarrely the fruits of my labour will not be for the benefit of some super luxury home for ourselves, but instead we are planning to do this as an investment. And so the land we have acquired has planning for a dwelling which would normally have me cursing and swearing.... it's a simple box shape. 4 walls, no frills. A box with 4 bedrooms and two reception rooms, at least thats the idea when it is finished.

I'm doing my research at the moment, and I believe, the less character and boxiness a property can have, the easier (and cheaper) is should be to put up. I do feel like a bit of a sell out, as this isn't going to be cutting edge design, and design and creativity is my passion, but we all have to start some where.

So where are we up to? Well, the offer on the land has been accepted, so the solicitors are now fighting it out, using their high powered legal speak to get the sale agreed in law, well I say they are fighting it out, I appointed my solicitor last Monday, and so far he hasn't received any paper work. I'm assured that this is a good sign.

My mind is in overdrive trying to think of ways to make the 'box' a more desirable place to be, planing the space out and trying out new ideas for the site as to what could go on there. To be honest, I would much rather to get two boxes on there rather than the one, and the enticing prospect of designing my own two square box houses really is too much for my little mind to keep track of. I'm sure I'll be uploading my plans as they get a little more concrete.

At this stage I feel a little overwhelmed with all the choices I am going to have to make, and trying to second guess parts of the build process which I clearly have no idea about yet. Yes there is a lot of learning to do, but I guess thats what makes it exciting.

I will appologize in advance for the scatty nature of the forthcoming blogs as the build progresses over the next few months, I'm not the best at keeping my mind focused, but then at the moment there seems to be so much to think about.