So, you’re considering making your dream a reality. All those thoughts and fantasies about your dream home can easily become a reality if you embark on a project to build your own home.

But before you sell up shop and get the ball moving, it’s worth appreciating how much it costs to build your own home and how it compares with buying an equivalent home already on the market.

As specialists in new build work in Loughborough, the costs involved in building a new house is something we frequently get asked. In this post, we take you through the main costs associated with building a new home from scratch.

Buying land

The land will undoubtedly be the most expensive piece of the puzzle. Unless you get extremely lucky and secure yourself a good deal, the price of land in the UK is continuing to increase, especially land with planning permission granted.

www.plotfinder.net is a useful website for getting an idea of the cost of land in your area. Check in with local estate agents to see what is currently on the market and the amount of land you can expect to get for your budget. The cost of the land will depend on the location, size and type of planning permission granted.

Additional costs

Buying land and getting permission to build your own home does come with its own set of additional legal and planning costs. Be sure to factor into your budget the stamp duty and land tax, design fees, planning application fees, building regulation fees, site survey and solicitor fees.

Building contractors

Whether or not you use contractors on the project or do it yourself will, of course, have an impact on price. It’s cheaper to do it yourself but this requires the most time and industry know-how. A contractor can take care of all elements but this will come at a cost of around 20-40% of the total.

Size of the property

The size of the proposed property has a large impact on what you can expect to pay. The average cost of building a house is measured per square metre. Construction costs can range from £1,000 to £3,000 per square metre depending on the quality and layout. The larger the space, the higher the total price.

Quality

The quality of material, contractor and finish will have an impact on the price. If you want the home to be built to a high standard, you’ll be adding up costs for the materials you’ll be using.

If you are unsure on what standard or quality of materials to use, we advise that areas such as external walls, windows and doors, roof and foundations are all focused on in terms of quality as these provide the structure and insulation.

Décor and interiors can be changed as and when, whereas if you decide further along down the line that you’d like to change the roofing material, for example, this would entail a large project.

Contingency costs

It’s rare that a new build project will come without its fair share of hiccups. That’s why it’s recommended that you set aside 10% of your building budget for unforeseen costs that could arise.

New build cost calculator

Homebuilding and Renovating Magazine has devised a new build cost calculator tool that can give you an answer on what you can expect to pay depending on where you live, the type of house and how much of the work will be fulfilled by contractors. You can fill in the cost calculator here.

New build property builders Loughborough

Our new build property builders can construct everything from the foundations to the roof, giving you brand new premises erected to the highest of standards.

We build standalone structures with the same care and attention that we give to our home extensions and property refurbishments, and our wealth of experience applies equally when it comes to the finishing touches on new build work and extensions alike.