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The Essential Guide » Initial Stages of a Project » How Do We Start Planning a Self Build or Renovation Project?
How do we go about starting to plan a Self Build or Property Renovation project?
Before you even start to look at plots of land or property there are a number of things you should think about:
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1) Are our finances sound? – Are they likely to stay that way?2) Are the whole of the family “up for it”?
3) Do we prefer New Build, or Renovation / Conversion?
4) What do we need?
5) What would we like “on top” of the things we need?
6) Where would we like to live?
7) Could we afford to buy a property from a developer, or an existing house which doesn’t need work doing to it, which would fulfil the list of needs and wants if we don’t Self Build or Renovate?
8) Is there land available in the area we would like to live? - And if so, how much does it likely to cost? – Is it affordable?
9) Would we need Planning Permission for either the New Build or Renovation in the area we would like to build? – If so, is it an area where we are likely to get it?
10) Will we get a mortgage for the amount of money we will need to fulfil our plans?
1) Finances:
You need to ask yourselves: “What is our present financial position? – Is it likely to improve shortly, or could it get worse? Do we have other sources of income if the main one falters? If our main income suddenly stopped could we continue with the project or would we have to sell up?
It is important to ask yourself all of those questions before you go any further. Your financial situation is the “rock” on which you are going to build your project. – If the “rock” is showing signs of crumbling, you would be advised to think very hard about whether this is the right time to start. - VERY few projects are completed under budget (no matter HOW MUCH people tell themselves they are going to be very careful” with their spending!).
If your finances are under pressure when you start out, the chances are that they will be worse by the time you finish. – IF you finish.
This is one of the most important areas to make sure you get right before you start. – I have seen families put under immense strain from “following their hearts instead of their heads” and taking on a major project when their financial situation “wasn’t really up to it”.
2) Are the family “up for it”?
This is another important factor which needs to be taken into consideration when contemplating in any “substantial” project.There is often a tendency to get carried away with “the dream”.
Once we start to get motivated by thoughts of being able to create our “dream home”, the images it creates in our minds are very powerful “drivers” which can make us want to “plough on” and get the whole thing started as soon as possible.
Ok, we will probably stop to ask ourselves “Can we afford it?” and talk about where we would like to live and what sort of home we would like to create. - BUT, while we “forge ahead” with all our exciting ideas, we can often forget that there are other family members (apart from the ones doing the main planning, i.e. usually either one or both adults) who are going to be affected in a major way if we take on such a project.
For the “main organisers”, the idea of living in a caravan for 6 – 9 months can be seen as “an adventure for everybody”. However this may not actually be how it’s seen by “everybody”! - For some members of the family, living in a caravan in the winter, or a B & B, or having to move away from where they feel settled, and from their friends, or having to change school and having no permanent “base” for up to a year, together with losing their privacy (especially if they in their teens), is probably “up there” with their worst nightmares! - Then there is the fact that they are possibly not going to be able to “tap” Mum or Dad for “spending cash” for up to a year, - because all the money will be tied up paying for the new house.
Before you get to far “down the line” in starting to plan your project, you should try to get everybody together to discuss the idea, highlight all the benefits, and try to get a consensus that overall “it’s a good idea” (there is a separate section covering “how will it affect the family?” later in this guide).
Getting the whole family “on board” and enthusiastic about the project can make the whole thing run a lot more smoothly. Then, when problems do occur (which they will!) you stand a chance of getting “backing” instead of “more strife” from the rest of the family. – Remember too, that it’s not just the kids you need to persuade. - One partner can often come up with the “dream” and try to “drag” the other partner “kicking and screaming” into it! - This is definitely NOT recommended!
3) Do we prefer “New Build” or “Renovation”?
I am just talking here about in a very “basic sense”. Some people prefer “older buildings” with character. Some people prefer “shiny new” buildings. If you have a clear sense right at the outset of which type of project you prefer, you may be able to save a lot of time and effort.
If you know that you would like to build your own home from scratch it enables you to focus your mind on that target from day one. If you aren’t sure which you prefer, you will have to spend some time looking into the various options before you can really make any decisions on which is your best option, and be able to start to formulate any definite plans. The problem with doing that is that sometimes people, as they start looking into it, find it hard to make that decision as to what is the best option, and end up never actually “getting the ball rolling” in any direction!
Once you have made that initial decision, it doesn’t exclude any of the other options, but what it means is that you can start to look into and research that area first. – Then, as time goes on, if you start to find that it doesn’t seem to be viable for whatever reason, you can then re consider and look at the other options available to you.
Even if you have a strong leaning towards “new build”, there is nothing stopping you going and having a look at “that interesting looking “Renovation property” that appears in the local property paper one week. – You never know, it might just be perfect for you. - BUT at least you will be spending most of your time on researching your “first choice” option, and you won’t be confusing yourselves by trying to learn about the advantages and disadvantages of “Self Build” versus “Renovation” versus “Conversion” versus “Extension” (which could possibly lead to “your head exploding” before you get anything started)!
4) What do we need?
Your NEEDS, either individually, or as a family are often the main driving force behind your initial decision to think about taking on such a project.The questions to ask yourselves before you “launch into” a major project include:
1) As a family, what is our situation and what are our needs at the moment? – Are our present living circumstances and conditions meeting those needs presently? (Probably not, or you wouldn’t be reading this!)
2) What are our needs as a family likely to be in the coming years? – Will our present home, with a bit of work and re organisation, be able to meet those needs as they change month to month and year to year?
3) Are we planning for the family to grow?
4) If so, how many bedrooms are we going to need over the next few years?
5) Are we going to need a family room / homework / music room?
6) Will one of us be working from home? – If so will we need an office? – If so how big would it need to be?
7) Do we need to try to keep the kids in their present school?
8) Do we need to be situated close to a place of work, or close to other family members?
9) Do we need to park the “works vehicle” on the driveway, plus our other 2 or 3 cars?
10) Do we need to lower our mortgage? – Can we afford to increase our Mortgage?
11) Do we need something that our present income levels do not allow us to have?
As you go through those questions you will probably find that one or two of them “jump off the page” at you, and you will tend to automatically “mentally” give priority to them. That’s good! – It allows you to prioritize your requirements when you come to starting to plan the actual project. You can try to make sure that the most important “needs” are met first, and then do your best to see if you can also meet the rest of the list. – It’s very rare that any one project (especially a “first” project) will meet all your needs, but by at least considering all aspects of your family life, and giving each “need” a priority, you can make sure that you concentrate on the right aspects.
5) What do we want?
“Needs” should come before “wants” and be catered for first. Unfortunately we are all human, and we can persuade ourselves that a “want” is actually a “need”! – Be careful, if those “wants” start to “sneak in” too often, they can use up the money which should be being spent on the needs!
The “wants” are basically a list of luxuries in one form or another, however, some “wants” are tending towards “needs”! For example, there would be an argument to say that: “That oversize” washing machine would help cut down the number of washes we have to do”. Or, “That range cooker that would be of great help when we do the entertaining that we need to do as part of our working lives”.
“Wants”, though, also include:
Those handmade bricks at £600 / thousand, where a £200 / 1000 brick would do the job “quite satisfactorily”.
The “feature roof tiles” which look lovely, but cost 4x the price of a concrete tile.
Expensive state of the art kitchens and bathrooms.
Expensive tiling or flooring.
Electric garage doors or gates.
Indoor or outdoor swimming pool.
Complicated landscaping.
And many more! - Basically anything that if you are honest with yourself, you would have to say is not “critical” to the project.
I am not advocating cutting out the “wants” completely. - DEFINITELY NOT! - One of the main reasons you are thinking about taking on this project is often to be able to give yourselves a few of those things that you have always wanted. All I am saying is that you should try to prioritize to make sure you plan for the needs, before you start choose the “wants”!
6) Where would we like to live?
You may think that this question needs to be higher up the list as it is one of the most important ones to answer. We have all heard the term “location, location, location”, and we have all been told that “The location of your home is paramount” – Garbage!
If you are a family with three growing kids, would you rather live in a 2 bed flat in “the best area”, or in a 5 bed house with a nice garden in a “reasonable area? – I rest my case!
This question is also placed sixth in the list because it doesn’t actually come into your reckoning until you know if the whole concept is a “starter” or not. Before you start to think about where you would like to, and could afford to live, you need to go through all the other considerations listed above. It would not be a good investment of your time to spend too much looking into aspects of “the geographical area” too thoroughly, until you have covered some of the more basic questions of whether or not the project is viable from a basic “financial” and “family” points of view.
7) Could we afford to buy an existing property in the area we would like to live, that would give us everything we need and want?
This may sound like a strange thing to consider.
The fact that you are even considering planning a “Self Build” or “Renovation” project would suggest that you are not thinking at the present time about buying a house from a developer or even an existing house “in good condition”. However this is still actually a worthwhile question just to briefly consider.
Why? – Because, once you have an idea of where you would like to live, - if you can manage to find a new or existing property in that area, - one that would fulfil your list of “needs and wants”, - then there is a good chance that your New Build or Renovation project will be a successful one.
Example:
You see a new house in the area you would like to live. It is pretty much exactly what you are looking for. It is up for sale at £300,000. – You do you figures and you find that you could just about afford it.
In theory, anything that you now find which needs some input from you, whether it be a Self Build or Renovation, SHOULD be a more cost effective option. - So the benefit of finding that property is that now you can now start to plan your project in the fairly secure knowledge that it should be financially viable.
You will find many of references in this guide to making sure that things are “financially viable” “cost effective” “a good investment” and you usually have to do a good deal of research to find out if they are. - If you can short cut this process by quickly finding something (that existing property for example) that pretty much proves that your ideas WILL be financially viable, you can then get straight on with the next part of the process with peace of mind.
8) Are there Building Plots available in the area we would like to live? - And if so, how much are they likely to cost? – Will they be affordable?
It’s a good idea at this stage to do some homework generally on what sort of land or renovation / conversion properties are available in the area where you would like to live, and what sort of prices are being asked for them.
If everything you look at in that area is more expensive than you expected it to be, and if you think that there is even a possibility the prices you would have to pay could possibly cause you to struggle financially, it may be a good idea to consider widening your geographical “search area” a little bit, to see if doing so starts to bring in some more “suitable” properties at a more affordable price. You may find that by just by travelling those 3 or 4 miles, you start to find land or property which “ticks” more of your “need” and “want” boxes, whilst also helping ensure that your finances are not going to be stretched before you even start.
9) Would we need Planning Permission for either a New Self Build or Renovation in the area we would like to build? – If so, is it an area where we are likely to get it?
This is a fairly simple question to consider, but is still an important one.
Land / Building Plots:
Many building plots are sold with either “Outline Planning Permission”, or “Full Planning Permission”. Some land is sold without any sort of Planning Permission and will just have a sign saying “Land suitable for development” or “Potential building plot”.
If the land has “Outline” or “Full” Planning Permission on it, at least you know you can build something on it.
“Outline Planning Permission for residential development”: Simply means that you can build a “property to live in” on it. – You then need to move on to a FULL or “Reserved Matters” application, with detailed plans, and also get that passed before you can start to build anything.
If has “Full Permission”, then there have already been “FULL DETAILED PLANS” submitted and passed for a particular design, and you presently HAVE to build the house to those plans (however you can submit a new proposal for a different development if you wish).
Whether the land has Outline Permission, or Full Permission, you will need to give thought to what you would like develop there, and then find out whether your ideas would be acceptable to the Local Council ( if you are happy with the plans and details contained in an existing “Approved Full Planning” application, this makes things a lot easier.
If you find that your ideas or plans don’t seem to be acceptable to the “Local Planning Authority”, you will then either have to “re think” your ideas, or move on to the next plot / property. (Note: If you have no experience in “Planning matters”, you could consider hiring the services of a Planning Consultant to help and advise you, or possibly an Architect or Draughtsman as long as they have experience in Planning procedures. – This could cost you a few hundred pounds or more, but maybe a worthwhile investment if it gets you the plot you want in the right place at the right price).
What you need to avoid at all costs is the possibility that you buy the land before you find out that you can’t actually develop it in the way you hoped you could.
If the land has no Planning Permission and is being sold as a “Potential Building Plot” you need to be even more careful. – Don’t believe anyone who tells you “Oh it’ll get Planning Permission without any problem”. – If someone says that to you, there is a good chance that they are probably lying (DON’T accuse them of that “outright” however!! - They may just be daft!! – If the land would be given Planning Permission “easily”, then why has it not got it already? – If land has Planning Permission on it, it will generally sell for a lot higher price than it will without it. So why would anyone think about selling their land without Planning Permission, when for a thousand pounds or so and a simple “Outline application”, they would be able to increase its value by 500 – 600% at least? Answer? – They wouldn’t – unless they were daft!!Renovation / Conversion property:
If you are looking at “Renovation” or “Conversion” properties, then depending on the nature of the work you intend to do, you may also find that you “venture into” the realms of requiring Planning Permission.
Many simple renovations won’t require you to make any Planning Applications before you can start the work, but there are many types of “upgrade” works that WILL come into the bracket where such applications should be made before any alteration work is started.
You will find a section giving you some guidance of “What will and what won’t” need a Planning Application, later in this guide, but as a general rule to follow: “If you are not sure, find out”! – Either through the Local Planning Department themselves , or via your professional advisor (Planning Consultant / Architect / Draughtsman).
If you have little or no experience in the “field” of Planning Permission, and if there is even the “slightest” possibility of you needing some form of permission: DON’T TAKE ANY CHANCES. If you do, you could land yourself in BIG trouble further down the line.
(Note: As I write this I have just taken a call from someone who is trying to sell their house. They have a buyer, and the sale has been proceeding well. They have just been asked if they applied for and received Planning Permission for the “garage conversion” that they completed a few years ago. They didn’t. The sale has now been put on hold until they obtain the Permissions they need “retrospectively”. Whether or not they now manage to gain this permission, they could lose this sale and all the costs they have incurred so far. – The worst case scenario could be that they may not receive the “retrospective permission” and be ordered to “re convert” the rooms back into garage space. – This sort of thing should be avoided at all costs! – So, always check on the situation regarding Planning Permission)
10) Will we get a mortgage for the amount of money we will need to fulfil our Self Build or renovation plans?
Once you have considered all of the above questions and any others which may have come to light whilst you have been thinking about them, you need to find out if you are now going to be able to start to move forward with your plans financially.
You may have savings, you may need to sell your own house, or you may have access to funding from somewhere or other. However, in most cases you are going to need a mortgage.
You are going to need to know before you go any further if you are going to be able to borrow enough money to “build”, “renovate” or “convert”, in one of the areas where you would be happy to live (whilst also leaving yourself with enough of a “financial buffer” to cover any “contingencies” and “problems” along the way.
There are sections in this guide which deal specifically with the subject of financing and what are the “best options” to finance for you as an individual, a couple, or a family.
Mortgage Consultants, Mortgage Advisors, Mortgage Lenders and Financial Consultants in your local area should all be listed in the Trade Directory. (Note: If in the early days after the launch of this site, whilst we populate all the sections in the directory, you can’t find suitable people from within the site, you should find that many “High Street” lenders will be able to help you. You will also find more “specialist companies” in the monthly “Self Build and Renovation” publications, and also at the “Trade shows” which you can regularly find touring the country, or you could consider visiting the “Permanent Self Build and Renovation Exhibition” at Swindon).
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