Why people self build
If you decide to self build you won't be alone: up to 20,000 people build their own homes each year and many others will carry out a renovation project or conversion.
The market is estimated to provide around 13% of all the new houses that are built throughout the country each year and the annual spend by self builders on land and building costs is thought to be in the region of £2 Billion.
Self Build Issues
The most important function of the self builder is to oversee and manage the project from start to finish. However, in many cases project management is being handed over to specialists in this field who offer specialist project management services, leaving the self builder with virtually no active role whatsoever, other than signing the cheques!
It is difficult to give an accurate description of the typical self builder. In most cases the self builder will carry out no building work whatsoever, his or her role being to make the financial arrangements and then "manage the build", carrying out the function of project manager and ensuring that the various steps throughout the process are achieved smoothly and efficiently.
Only a very few (probably less than 5%) will carry out all the building works themselves, with only around 20% being involved in any building activity at all. The term "self builder" is therefore perhaps a misnomer!
Over the following pages we cover some of the issues you will need to consider.
