Knock down a home and 'build a bigger one'

An innovative approach to self build is to take an existing home, knock it down and build a larger one, it has been suggested.

The Mail has suggested that such a method can help add value to a site where a new property replaces the old.

It cites the case of self builder Alan Waxman, who acquired a property in west London.

He bought a small house that had been built on a wartime bomb site and rebuilt it with a new home that has 3,400 sq ft of space on five levels, with two of these underground.

Mr Waxman has since sold the house for £1.7 million.

An even grander example of this practice has been reported from Dorset, where the Telegraph noted that Russian investor spent £5 million knocking down and replacing a property in the prestigious Sandbanks area of Poole.