Having just moved into our newly built house I just wanted to say a big thank you to all who have helped us on this forum with advice etc.

Yet to have the final SAP done but I prefer to deal in reality and living in the house is a real joy with regard to temperature and air quality. I know we have had some pretty good weather of late and will have to go through all the seasons to see how the house performs but first indications are excellent. For those undecided on MVHR, it is very good - lovely clean fresh feel to the house.

The build was also filmed by Channel 4 who arranged for a valuation which on one hand was amusing but a sad indictment of the state of the current understanding of energy efficient houses. The estate agent first off stated he could not value it as there were no comparables in the area but after a lot of research I am pleased to say that their final figure was £150k in excess of what it cost us. So even allowing for some estate agent inflation, not bad for 9 months hard graft and proves self build can still be profitable for a total novice like me.

One bit of advice which has really paid off is in the initial design. Try to avoid going too big, otherwise you run the danger of having cold feeling cavernous spaces and not a cosy well thought out home - and also mix up the ceiling heights for a great feeling of space.

I'll shut up now but thanks again to all and I am more than happy to share knowledge and anyone in the Sussex/Kent area is welcome to pop by for a chat.

Congratulations - when do you go out on ch4?

Care to estimate the cost per square meter including land?

The C4 programme is a new series called 'Building the Dream' (more like a nightmare at times!) with Charlie Luxton as the host. It is focusing on self builders trying to build on realistic budgets - not your Grand Design projects that are normally beyond most peoples budget. I am told that the series will be broadcast towards the end of this month and our episode will be July/August. I think another GBF forum member is involved as well, so most episodes should be of interest to folks on GBF

Well done.

And I'm glad C4 are doing an alternative to Grand Designs. I always watch it with sick fascination. It's partly the appalling “grand” bits and partly the way it makes a drama out of routine problems. It's also so noticeable how much nicer the lower budget houses are - Ben Law being the extreme but there have been a few other nice small houses, too.

Also, be interested to hear any answer you'd give to CWatters and fostertom. Worth adding how much of the build you did yourself.

PS, cross-posted with your numbers. Thanks for those. And I think you did pretty well, too.

Posted By: fostertomCan you guestimate separating groundworks into 'normal' founds and basic drainage, excluding 'exceptional' founds (if any) and 'externals' i.e. drives, patios, extended drainage?
Then the former shd be added into 'build' (excl the 'luxuries'), for a £/m2 that wd be comparable with any 'normal' build - less than your 'cd have been £200K' perhaps.

Probably take out 30% of groundworks budget to account for extra slope costs, so as you suggest on a flat easy site (access was also a problem - single track unmade lane and very tight so could not use a crane or hoist - back still aches!), you could build for less than £200k.

Posted By: jamesingram

Posted By: PuglieseOne bit of advice which has really paid off is in the initial design. Try to avoid going too big, otherwise you run the danger of having cold feeling cavernous spaces and not a cosy well thought out home - and also mix up the ceiling heights for a great feeling of space.

I like that , seems many on small plots, especially the case of extensions, many want to max out internal space to make £ and move on. I say, houses for affordable homes, not for profits for those with capital.
Do you have a blog or any photos etc. would be nice to have a 'virtual tour'

A Facebook page is in the pipeline as we want to promote a 'fabric first' approach to building in this area - so much ignorance, but funny enough not had time!!!

Interesting what you say about maxing out the space. Ours is a small plot with just 3 bedrooms but had it been a developers house it would have been a 5 bed. Estate agents comment was that it was a refreshing change to have a newbuild not pushing up against the boundary line and sitting nicely in the plot, and had we squeezed in the additional bedrooms we would not have increased the value and possibly devalued.

Posted By: PuglieseThe series is being shown on More 4 starting next Tuesday. Which one is yours?

Another member of GBF has his build also in this programme.

Will make sure I watch the whole series then. Hope it is on after 7pm though.

Jonti

hi all
Our build is the 3rd episode, being shown 24/9 at 9pm

It will either be a resounding success or a catastrophic failure, that's the TV program, our house is fantastic, proof that spending extra on airtightness and good insulation connections are worth every penny.

Thanks to all that offered advice last year before and during our build, especially Tom Foster for being so infectious, hope all is going well in Cornwall Tom

Yet another refuge fleeing to the safety of Cornwall in a caravan

Thanks Ed

Posted By: SteamyTeaI went to Lidl today, bought a radio signal controlled clock. I think i am more than 1500 km from Hamburg though, so have set it manually.

Can it not use the UK signal (from Cumbria)?

Mmmm. Yes. I turned over.

I watched it all, but then we used to live a few miles from Pirton. I agree there didn't seem to be much about the building itself.