Catch 22?

azzeretti

Does anyone know what comes first.......

I am seriously comtemplating a self build. In order to arrange finance I need to know how much the building costs will be. In order to know what building costs will be I need plans. In order to get plans I need an architect. In order to pay for and architecht I will need to release equity in my current house by selling - I am not selling until I get finance!!!!

As you can see I am in a bit of a round & round situation.

Does anyone know if I could get some plans of the net and take them to a builder for an estimate? Does the builder need exact, more complex plans detailing everything (somthing an arcitecht can do) do quote for a job, or might they quote from a "home made" plan.

I know I will need a sign off from Architect for finance but I would prefer a quote first.

What process did most self builders/contracting builders on here take?

paulocon

Hi azzeretti,

I don't think having plans drawn up will be overly expensive (I'm sure other posters will give you an indication of figures)..

Have you a site already as this will have a bearing on the house you will build...

squire1

If you contact a house building contractor with a rough idea of what you want they will be able to give you an estimate of what it will cost. There are contractors out there that have their own book of plans that are priced up for a very basic specification. The plans are fairly basic but they will give you some ideas at no cost to you.

If you want the name of one PM me as i dont want to get banned for advertising.:D

azzeretti

thanks Paulo,
We haven't a site yet but I was hoping to sort of price of build first. I know services etc to the site will make a difference but I was just hoping for ballpark to start with

Salmon

where abouts are you? Its not just as easy as getting a site! Especially if you already have a house!

Salmon

Oh yeah! My planning application cost around the 2k mark!!

azzeretti

Salmon wrote:

where abouts are you? Its not just as easy as getting a site! Especially if you already have a house!

What difference does having a house make?

I'm in the south east - there seems to be loads of sites around me!

azzeretti

squire1 wrote:

If you contact a house building contractor with a rough idea of what you want they will be able to give you an estimate of what it will cost. There are contractors out there that have their own book of plans that are priced up for a very basic specification. The plans are fairly basic but they will give you some ideas at no cost to you.

If you want the name of one PM me as i dont want to get banned for advertising.:D

I've just PM'd you - thanks

Salmon

Certain coco's are very strict on planning permission and will only allow you to build a house if you can demonstrate a local housing need. Since you already have a house it might be difficult to demonstrate to them that you need a house. Keep an eye on the sites for sale and see if they are sold 'subject to planning' or 'subject to local need' this is becoming very common. Of course it depends which county you live in but to my knowledge there arent many left where you dont need to fulfill the local need requirement!

Best of luck!

azzeretti

Salmon wrote:

Certain coco's are very strict on planning permission and will only allow you to build a house if you can demonstrate a local housing need. Since you already have a house it might be difficult to demonstrate to them that you need a house. Keep an eye on the sites for sale and see if they are sold 'subject to planning' or 'subject to local need' this is becoming very common. Of course it depends which county you live in but to my knowledge there arent many left where you dont need to fulfill the local need requirement!

Best of luck!

Ah I see. So only if I am buying a site without FPP or OPP. I don't think I would have considered buying a site that wasn't at LEAST Subject to PP anyway, so no worries there. I've never heard of "local need" so I may get in tocuch with the COCO.

Salmon

Not sure on the OPP situation! What part of the country are you in? There may be someone on here able to fill you in on the situation in that area!

azzeretti

Salmon wrote:

Not sure on the OPP situation! What part of the country are you in? There may be someone on here able to fill you in on the situation in that area!

Wexford. The sunny side:)