Self Build Costs - Part III
Unsuspected Ground Conditions and Muckaway From £1,000 +
Before buying a plot or a renovation opportunity a soil investigation and survey should always be commissioned in order to assess the type of foundation likely to be necessary. However, any conclusions will be based upon trial holes that are either bored or dug at various points on the land, usually outside or beyond the limits of the proposed house. It is therefore possible that when the actual foundations are dug, what is experienced could be profoundly different from what was expected, necessitating a change in the type of foundation. This can vary from having to go a little bit deeper in order to avoid a soft spot such as an old pond, with a cost of little more than a few hundred pounds, right through to pile and ringbeam foundations involving extra costs of between £7,000 and £10,000.
The cost of removing spoil from foundations can also be high, currently in the region of £150 per load. Few contractors or groundworkers will give a fixed price for this work and if adverse ground conditions requiring extra digging arise, this will add to disposal costs. Muckaway is also a significant proportion of the cost of building a basement.
Highways Contractors, Sewage Connections and Creating Access From £5,500+
The costs of a standard driveway, approximately 5.5m wide and extending back 14m from the carriageway with turning and parking space, surfaced in gravel but with a tarmac section at the abutment to the road, is around £4,000. If you require the whole driveway to be surfaced in either tarmac or block pavers then the costs will rise by around £1,000.
Only Local Authority Approved Contractors are able to carry out works to, on or under the Highway. Whilst some local authorities will allow ordinary contractors (providing you or they have the necessary public liability insurance cover, typically £2,000,000) to carry out works up to and abutting the Highway e.g. the drop kerb for a new access, others insist that works such as this are carried out by approved licensed contractors. This can have the effect of pushing costs up from around £1,500 to something like £4,500. Connections to sewers within the Highway can cost around £3,500 and, on a busy road, where extra precautions have to be taken and traffic lights provided, the costs can escalate dramatically.
Delivery Charges and Non Returnable Pallet Costs £100 +
Whilst builder's merchants normally include delivery within their price, any materials ordered direct from manufacturers or salvage yards will usually incur a delivery charge. Make sure that when you get prices for your budget that the quote includes delivery. If your site is difficult to access, there may be additional delivery charges for staged deliveries on smaller vehicles.
Bulk materials such as bricks, blocks, pavers, multiple bags of cement and plaster etc. are usually delivered on wooden pallets. Most builder's merchants and direct suppliers charge extra for this at the rate of £10 per pallet and then say that this is refundable if the pallets are returned in good condition. The problems that then arise concern keeping the pallets in good condition - they make excellent firewood - and relying on the companies being available or close by to pick them up when required. Some companies agree a refund of £1 less than the original cost of the pallets whilst others make a straight charge of £5 per pallet, non-returnable.
Inappropriate Development Almost unlimited
Most sites have an optimum carrying capacity. Imagine a street of houses, all roughly the same size and all having the same value. Now assume that a site of roughly the same dimensions as all the others comes up and that someone decides that they are going to build a house half as big again as the rest of the houses in the street. Their costs could be up to 50% higher than those they would have experienced had they built a smaller house. Yet in many cases, the value of the completed house might not be substantially greater than its neighbours. The site would have been over developed. On the other hand, if someone builds a property that is not grand enough to come up to the ceiling value that the site can sustain, then the true potential of the site will be lost. The site will have been under developed. In both of these cases the hidden cost of the self-build will be marked by a discrepancy between cost and value to the detriment of any equity gain.
Scaffolding and Plant Hire From £1,750-£3,000
An average sized four bedroom house will need scaffolding for between twelve and sixteen weeks at a cost for hire and erection of around £125 per week. That is worked out on a rate of £12/m for each lift. If your site is on sloping or waterlogged ground then it might be necessary to employ a foot scaffold (scaffolding and boarding at or around ground level) and that can add around £10/m2.
If there are delays on site and the hire period needs to be extended then there might well be a weekly penalty of around 10% of the total hire charges. Bad ground or difficult access might also necessitate the hiring of an all terrain fork lift truck in order to get materials on site and that can cost around £250 per week. Shifting loads of muck on site can also mean that you need to hire a dumper to work alongside the diggers and this can cost around £99 per week.
You may also need to allow for hire of some sort of storage facility on site and portable WC facilities for the builders.
Additional Architect's Fees From £100 +
Make sure that you agree fees with your architect in writing and ask for details of any additional costs such as printing out sets of plans or producing colour elevations. Ensure that you allow for all of the drawings and speficication documents necessary to build the house.
If your architect is inspecting or supervising the work and an abortive visit or unsatisfactory work requires that they have to make an additional visit to site then you might well be faced with extra costs of between £50 and £150 for their time, plus expenses.
Sometimes drawings are not very clear and if this is the case, and fresh or explanatory drawings are required, then you might very well have a good argument against extra fees. If however, you have chosen subcontractors who are unfamiliar with some aspects of your design or are unable to comprehend particular features, then your architect or designer will have good cause to charge extra.
Some architects agree to provide a set number of drawings within their agreed fees. However, you may find you need further copies in order to get quotes from a number of different builders or subcontractors and there might be a charge for additional copies.
Your Own Time and Expenses £1,000 +
Perhaps the least obvious cost of all is that of your own time and expenses in visiting plots, the site, suppliers, architects and so on. The additional motoring costs of driving to and from the site every day can be considerable, as can the cost of the inevitable telephone calls, particularly on mobile phones, to builders and suppliers.
There is also a notional cost attached to your own time - which could perhaps otherwise be spent doing overtime, freelance work, or a second job. This is especially the case for DIYers putting in countless hours.
Gone Over Budget?
If all of this advice comes too late for you and you have already discovered these hidden costs then it is time to take evasive action to get your budget and project back on the rails.
Contact your lender, explain the situation and ask for a further loan advance.
Talk to your bank about a short term loan explaining that you will remortgage the house when it is completed to repay the loan.
Try and arrange more credit with suppliers - first ensuring you can increase your mortgage or take out a loan when the house is finished.
Consider staging the build, leaving some non essential work until funds allow.
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