Self-build for every budget

Contemplating building your own home can take time, sleepless nights, and the nagging question: can I afford a self-build?

Armed with solid preparation, research, and the ability to get your hands dirty a bespoke, dream home can become your reality. But it’s your all-important self-build budget that will impact size, shape, specification, and materials used on your self-build.

You can typically save 20-40% on a self-build compared to investing in a new home. Although there is no set cost, where you live and the type of home, you’re after will determine the cost. Based on your personal finances and the funds available through a mortgage, you can decide on an affordable amount.

Self-build is a rewarding experience. Not only can you put your own stamp on your home from start to finish and benefit from lots of space, but it’s also a cost-effective option.

We’ve compiled some creative, inspiring, and efficient self-build homes that show how brilliant design can be achieved on various budgets.

The budget Passivhaus self-build

Location: Gloucestershire
Build cost: £125,000

Building a home to Passivhaus standards on just £125,000 might sound impossible. But Ian and Justine Jones worked relentlessly to complete their family home on a small self-build budget. Their eco home scooped the Best Value Home award in the Daily Telegraph Homebuilding & Renovating Awards 2021.

Their self-build features a MVHR (mechanical ventilation with heat recovery) system, an air source heat pump, triple glazed windows, and solar panels on the roof.

By taking on DIY with family and friends mucking in, the couple stayed on budget. Ian, a carpenter by trade, built the initial timber frame construction on site and his father-in-law helped with demolition and groundworks.

Justine tackled the painting, labouring, and plastering but the biggest challenge, and one of their favourite features, are the red cedar boards which clad the rear of the property, running vertically up and over the roof. These took more than four months to cut, plane, sand, seal and fit each board by hand. The trees were felled in local woodland with the help of Ian’s dad Trevor who owns a sawmill. A true labour of love.

Instagram: @boothecarpenter

Folly Farmhouse

Location: Wexford, Ireland
Build cost: £230,000

With £80,000 of savings and mortgage of £280,000, Aoife and Lar were in a good financial position to begin their self-build.

The resourceful couple haggled a lot on pricing, and they advise any self-builder to do the same. “We are money savvy and were always looking for the best price. Not only that, we also mucked in as much as we could too. Using local builders and suppliers saved us a lot of money. We made a solid plan and we’d already sourced our electrician and plumber before we’d even broke ground. We knew which tradespeople needed to be on site and so we ensured we kept to the schedule. Using a local roofer saved us a lot on the slate roof.”

They worked with a builder to project manage the construction, but they mucked in to help with the blockwork and Lar poured the concrete subfloor, laid the floor insulation upstairs and downstairs before underfloor heating pipes were laid. The couple also completed all the air tightness tape around windows and doors. They took down scaffolding, laid ducting for electricity connections, prepared groundwork for lawns to be planted, and laid adjustable risers and granite paving slabs on the balcony. 

The couple’s vision was to build an “old style Georgian farmhouse with a modern twist” to blend into the surrounding countryside and that’s exactly what they achieved with a careful eye on costs.

Instagram: @the_folly_farmhouse

Modern barn ‘conversion’ style

Location: Suffolk
Build cost: £280,000

The ability to learn on the job is a positive trait when undertaking a self-build project. Chris Plummer rose to the challenge on his Suffolk build with girlfriend Natasha Houston. He taught himself basic wiring, plumbing and even installed an MVHR (Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery system) to take the heat from the air leaving the building and transfer it to the incoming fresh air which is put into the house.

He certainly didn’t shy away from carpentry and roofing either.

Natasha’s job as a finance manager meant that looking at cash flow was high on the agenda. The couple used an online estimating service as a starting point to work out the cost of bricks/quantities. “It was a great starting point, giving us a way to flex our budget,” says Natasha.

Chris, who worked as an auditor, handed in his notice at the end of July 2018 to concentrate on project managing and building the house. The result is a spacious two-storey four-bedroom home with high quality finishes.

Read their full story

Instagram: @suffolkselfbuild

Watcome House

Location: East Sussex
Build cost: £325,000

Designed by RX Architects, Watcome House is a three-bedroom efficient home surrounded by open countryside.

This timber frame construction is highly insulated and powered by an air source heat pump resulting in very low running costs. Large windows ensure good levels of daylight to flood the property.

The main design consideration was how to make best use of the narrow, triangular-shaped site, says the architect. Removing the tall hedges that previously bordered the plot resulted in uninterrupted views across the countryside, as well as improved access to sunlight.

The 140 square metre family home is built in an L-shape with two wings that create a private courtyard on one side, with a bigger garden on the other. The two-storey part of the house includes bedrooms, a platform for stargazing and a camera obscura. 

Truly inspiring to see what can be achieved on this self-build budget.

Instagram: @rxrchitects

Contemporary dream home

Location: Oxfordshire
Build cost: £440,000 

Building an eco-efficient home in the UK’s biggest self-build town scooped first-time self-builders Catherine Buttery and Justin Metcalfe an award but, most importantly, their dream family home.

After reading about the much talked about Graven Hill, which was offering a range of self-build and custom build plots, the couple pursued their dream. With all the roads, footpaths, drainage, and landscaping covered by Graven Hill, it was the couple’s responsibility to shape their own design and source tradespeople to handle all aspects of the build.

Graven Hill in Bicester is now the site for their four-bedroom, four bathroom, open-plan ground floor home.

Instagram: @self_build_stories