Lifestyle Features

Too many of us live in homes that simply don't suit our individual lifestyles. Too small, too cluttered, the wrong internal layout, shortage of bathrooms, bedrooms, storage, or an elderly or disabled family member unable to move around the safely and with ease.

With the quality of most new builds in the UK, average or poor, and the layouts prescriptive, and often downright boring, it's easy to see why self build offers an appealing alternative.

Imagine starting with a blank canvas and creating a space that works for you and your family. With self build you have a say in everything, location, size, exterior design, internal layout and the fixtures and fittings! Whether you crave open plan living, a boot room or perhaps an office or workshop, you can tailor your home to your own personal specification for up to 30% less than the cost of buying a property, built to an equivalent size and standard.

With self build, you can build a home that is energy efficient and future proof. It's possible to build an ultra-low energy building that requires little energy for space heating or cooling. This can be particularly appealing if you are approaching retirement, because while you may not be able to increase your income, you can slash your energy bills leaving you more of your valuable pension pot to enjoy.

With an increasing number of us working remotely and figures set to grow, rather than sitting at your kitchen table, why not create a dedicated office area, where you can feel comfortable and that inspires creativity and productivity.

With self build, you can design a home around each member of the family. Whether that's an elderly relative and the creation of a self-contained annex to allow them to live independently, or a young adult struggling to get a foot on the housing ladder. It's far easier to create a home to suit everyone's requirements providing sufficient personal and quality living space with self build.

With a young family, an open plan layout will allow you to spend more time together. Open plan living while creating a sense of community also means you can maximise the potential of every corner of your home.

Building your own home gives you the opportunity to consider all of the elements you wish to include to make life more pleasurable. Whether that's underfloor heating, bifolding doors, smart technology, or a house built to passive standards.

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!

Custom build brings an added dimension to homebuilding, giving you all of the freedom to design your home as above, but with an enabling developer bringing the plots to market with all of the services and infrastructure in place and building your home for you, to your individual specification and budget.

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