Self-build house in your garden

A couple living in a leafy private road in Wilmslow in Cheshire first got in touch with us several years ago. Their house had a large side garden and they wanted to investigate the feasibility of building a new home in their large side garden.

They had found an architect and had some designs drawn up and wanted to get planning permission themselves for a classic Tudor style, four bedroom, three storey house. Downstairs, at the back of the house, a large open plan family-dining-kitchen space runs across the width of the property. There is also a spacious lounge, providing additional room to relax. On the first floor, the magnificent master bedroom has a dressing room, as well as ensuite, the other bedrooms are spread over the first and second storeys.

Gaining planning permission in a conservation area

The house and garden were in a conservation area so achieving planning was always going to be a challenge. The clients were also in two minds as to whether they should move into the new house themselves and sell their original home, or whether they should stay put and sell the new house instead.

Their architect suggested they go down the traditional tender route, which for design and build is very often a JCT (Joint Contracts Tribunal). We were one of five builders in the area to be asked to quote.

What are the disadvantages of using a JCT?

With a JCT, every item has to be priced up. It is quite straightforward to do as it is basically the production of very long lists of items and prices. However, as all professional bodies have to be brought on board, including architects and surveyors, it can end up being quite costly. When pricing a JCT, companies are inclined to err on the side of caution to cover all eventualities, which means costs tend to come in quite high too.  

The main disadvantage of this route to self-build is that when a JCT is created, it can be difficult for any party involved to make changes to the design or specification. Making any alterations can delay the whole project as they have such a significant knock-on effect on the contract as a whole.

Our advice is that it can be much more cost-effective to have a builder on board from the start.

When we looked at the plans after being invited to quote, we spotted straightaway that there were some very technical details to the designs, which were probably unnecessary in terms of what the clients actually wanted. We sat down with them to explain why some of the costs might be so high. This was because there were elements to the build that we felt were being over engineered. Some things are worth spending a lot of money on, while other things can be designed in such a way as to be overly and unnecessarily sophisticated. It can be easy in these cases for customers to be unknowingly overcharged.

Our own contracts can be much more flexible and we are used to providing practical and value for money solutions  to work within our clients’ budgets. This meant we could advise on changes that could be made to the design to reduce costs and also to make the whole project more efficient. For example, we suggested altering the layout downstairs to make the plant room bigger, as the one in the original plans was far too small to be feasible. The energy calculations too were for a super high specification, which would have been very expensive. We created a genuinely bespoke system, totally customised to the client’s requirements which met the specification required for their needs.

Going down the JCT route might seem an attractively risk-free approach but a lot of what determines a successful self-build comes down to trust that you are working with a builder who has their client’s best interests at heart. Our recommendation is to get a builder involved early on as they can make practical suggestions of how things can be done in a cost effective and efficient way.

If you are interested in building your own home, talk to us. With our complete turnkey self-build package, we can help you design it, secure planning approval and carry out the whole build.

We’ve been designing and building award-winning homes since 1981. From prestigious turnkey self-build projects, to distinctive developments and exclusive barn conversions, each bespoke home is built to the same exacting standards.

CB Homes is an A1+ member of the National House Building Council (NHBC), registered builder with the Local Authority Building Control (LABC), as well as a member of the Federation of Master Builders.

Contact us to find out more.