Self-building a home

You do not always have to buy a home that is already built. You can self-build your own home.

You do not need construction experience to self-build. Most people hire builders to do the work.

Benefits of self-building

While self-building can take a lot more time and work than buying a new home, it has some benefits:

• you can design your home to suit your needs
• you get more choice over the way your home looks
• it can cost less to buy a plot of land and build a house than to buy a similar existing house

Buying a derelict empty house

You can also buy a derelict empty house and either renovate or demolish it.

It may already have connections to roads, water, electricity, gas and sewerage. This makes it easier to get your new home connected.

However, you may have to compromise on the house design.

If you need to demolish a derelict house, speak to the local council about any building or planning permissions you may need.

Building a kit home

Some companies sell timber frame ‘kit homes’. These are already designed and ready to be assembled.

A kit home may cost less to build than a similar home that is built using traditional methods. However, you may need to pay more up front to buy the kit. It may be harder to get a self-build mortgage on the home once it’s finished.