Cost of granny flat?worth it?

marizpan

We are thinking about a self build and could do with a little help to make some decisions. We only want a simple 1600ft hse max with alot of open plan in living areas. We dont want to get a mortgage but have the site and 40k savings.Would it be possible to build a granny flat for this and live there and not have any pressure to build hse up untill plannig runs out or would you be better off to just put it into hse in the first place?
My husband would have great connections to get deals/favours/exchanges for labour and trade prices for materials etc. Dont know if that would make a difference.
Thanks

ThePiedPiper

I'd be fairly certain you can only build what you've got planning for. You can't build a garage without planning for it so there'd be no way you could build a granny flat with no planning...

marizpan

This is early stages, we have been verbally told that there would be no problem with application once it meets x,y & z. We are wondering to include on the application for planning a granny flat, assuming it is approved. We are not trying to build anything without planning. We are trying to plan ahead and be prepared

muffler

If you have had verbal confirmation re granny flat then proceed with the planning application for the house and granny flat. By the time the planning is sorted you would have had more time to make decisions.

Im at a loss though as to why you would go down this road. When you do eventually build your house will you be able to make use of the granny flat?

marizpan

We were thinking about this route mainly because we dont want to get a mortgage. The fact that we would have somewhere comfortable for 3-5yrs while we save/build we thought it was worth considering. But im interested in others peoples views or experiences. Maybe it would be a waste and should be just put into the build itself? Living in a mobile home for that length of time doesnt appeal, but then i've never lived in one.
Any feedback welcome

Jollyman

I would say get plannin for a garage, and use that as your living space. We had planned on doing this but forged ahead with the house instead. As far as im aware the planners dont mind this as long as you return the garage to its use when you move out. Would manage this for €40kish means having to sort out your sewage and stuff on site sooner then ye would have planned too .. there is plans on my blog for a habitable garage, have a look.

http://jollyman2.googlepages.com/

www.selfbuildardmore.blogspot.com

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=120735

ThePiedPiper

I think that the €40,000 might disappear very quickly and it might be very hard to build a compliant house/granny flat with that amount of money.. You'll also be left with a second house that could've cost maybe 60k that you may not have a real use for...
You've stated that you don't want a particulary fancy house, why not plan for something around 1,200 sq feet and forget the granny flat? In my opionion it'd be much better use of the cash...

r-i-tect

You may as well buy a caravan

In my opinion Verbal confirmation means nothing

techyness

Why dont you build a small house in line with your budget but design it in such a way that you can add to it and extend later as and when you need to or can afford to?

sydthebeat

techyness wrote: »

Why dont you build a small house in line with your budget but design it in such a way that you can add to it and extend later as and when you need to or can afford to?

you can....

in my estimation youd build about 450 sq ft comfortably for 40K.... obviously the smaller the dwelling the higher the 'per sq ft' costs.

youd need to have it suitably designed to 'add on' easily after.

it would be a good idea to pour the full foundations for the 'whole' dwelling all in one instead of in 2 parts...

and just to clarify, a granny flat is a separate small housing unit built on to an existing dwelling as an extension. a 'granny flat' doesnt exist in isolation, youre simply talking about a small dwelling.