On the Rise: the Success of Self-Build
Self-build is a phrase that is becoming ever-popular in the housing market. Wait up a minute, what precisely is “self-build”? It’s a property you build yourself. It doesn’t have to mean LITERALLY by yourself, but you place yourself in the position as architect, planner, foreman of your property and allow skilled workers do the task you tell them to do. More and more people are doing just that – in fact, the army of “self-builders” in the UK outnumbers the amount of properties being developed by any professional developer. The function of self-build is to make a property to your exact specifications, not a boiler-plate design that commercial developers use.
I’m sure you’re formulating this thought right about now: “I’m no developer”. The good news is that getting involved with a self-build project doesn’t have to involve you with the physical aspects of the home development (as a matter of fact, just 5% of self-builders actually get involved with the actual construction work). Even the design aspects are often finalised by a professional designer. Self-build, more often than not, is about you expressing (in laymen’s terms), what you need to the house designer – who then produces a design based on your prerequisites. This plan then becomes the draft the builders work to. See? You don’t need to have any proactive involvement in self-build. Having said all that, the Do It Yourself fantatic can use self-build as a chance to save some dosh by helping out with the aspects of self-build they have experience in – it’s up to you how much involvement you want during the build.
Since you get full control over the details of the build, you can choose the latest in technology, while commercial developers fall behind because they’re developing to rigid template designs. You can put in things like underfloor heating, automated climate, lighting and entertainment facilities throughout your entire home.
You must ensure the squad of workers you select are 100% competent and that they can build as a group. For sure, you will require builders with lots of experience, particularly with specific types of construction machinery, such as floor saws, wall saws, Husqvarna disc cutters, masonry saws and stihl saws. Not only do they need to be safe with such equipment, they of course need to do their job well too!
This article is merely an introduction to self-build, and I hope it will encourage those of you who are perhaps a little daunted by such projects. It needn’t take up all of your time, and you won’t need any specific skills, cautiously, and you will need to cautiously work out the budget of the project.