Self Build Planning

amrt

I need some advice regarding self-build. I have a site which I have received from my parents. I have done the percolation test on the site which passed and we have an engineering that has done plans for us. It’s just going to be a standard bungalow nothing too fancy .We were hoping to do a lot of the work ourselves as a lot of my family are in the trade but our Engineering is telling us the bank will calculate it at approximately €85per square foot. We are at a loss as to what to do next. We have our plans and were hoping to self-build but it seems a little expensive. Do we now go and price all aspects of the cost eg blocks, roofing, plastering etc. or do they just calculate it per square foot

Gumbo

Have you got Planning Permission yet?

€85 Sq. Ft is very low IMHO.

Part L Compliance alone could cost you 20k or more!

sydthebeat

amrt wrote: »

I need some advice regarding self-build. I have a site which I have received from my parents. I have done the percolation test on the site which passed and we have an engineering that has done plans for us. It’s just going to be a standard bungalow nothing too fancy .We were hoping to do a lot of the work ourselves as a lot of my family are in the trade but our Engineering is telling us the bank will calculate it at approximately €85per square foot. We are at a loss as to what to do next. We have our plans and were hoping to self-build but it seems a little expensive.

1. Do we now go and price all aspects of the cost eg blocks, roofing, plastering etc. or do they just calculate it per square foot

1. answer is yes.

if you are going to go for funds from a bank you will need to show:
(a) the total reasonable construction costs, including professional fees, connection fees, and a 10% contingency
(b) what value of this total cost that you predict will be saved by you 'self building' with a breakdown of each saving
(c) the resultant total of what you wish to borrow

so for example a 2000 sq ft house, reasonable cost of construction @ €85 /sqft = €170,000
plus professional fees, connections, contributions approx €10,000
= €180,000
plus 10% contingency = €198,000 total costs

then a separate breakdown of savings of say
€5,000 labour for blockwork
€7,000 labour for carpentry
€3,000 labour plumbing
€5,000 labour landscaping
€6,000 labour electrics
etc

therefore your mortgage request is €198k minus self build savings minus deposit savings

BryanF

You don't have to spend it all..

amrt

No our planning has not been submitted yet. We are just clueless as to where to start. Everyone is telling us something different. We just want to be organised. So I have my plans so should I now go and get prices for everything or do I wait until our planning is granted? Will our Engineer not do that out does he just give a rough estimate? We just want to have a rough idea of what this is going to cost us

893bet

amrt wrote: »

No our planning has not been submitted yet. We are just clueless as to where to start. Everyone is telling us something different. We just want to be organised. So I have my plans so should I now go and get prices for everything or do I wait until our planning is granted? Will our Engineer not do that out does he just give a rough estimate? We just want to have a rough idea of what this is going to cost us

85 a square yard for a self build would be great. You won't come in cheaper than that unless you actually skimp on meeting building regs (substandard, cold house that costs a fortune to heat that you can't sell in future) or put in a really cheap finish. I am coming on around that but with not including driveway etc.

All the money you are saving via family and friends....ain't that much! They won't work for free, don't kid yourself! Labour is a small part of house cost. Less and less the further you go. Prob abouts 25% of the total cost. Not a lot of saving to be made there.

Drift

Don't forget the stress OP. Self-buildis recognised to be massively stressful and hugely time consuming even for those with experience in the area.

Having said that - there's no rush getting into the nitty gritty yet ... one step at a time - do the planning first. Just satisfy yourself in broad terms prior to the planning that you will have enough money to construct the size of house for which you seek planning permission. Syd's post gives a good indication of how you can go about this although I think for the time being you should budget a little higher than 85/sq m.