In view of my upcoming move, I'm looking at doing a little self build.  Nothing huge - the plan is to get a small plot of land, and buy a log cabin (pre-fab thing, the slot-together kind) for me and the pets to live in.  I'll worry about the pond later :D

So I'm wondering, has anyone gone through this sort of thing before - what do I need to know about getting planning permission, sorting out the plumbing, electrics and so on?  I'm looking to buy a buildable-on plot without permission, as with it gets rediculously expensive.  I will have £20K to play with, the cabin I'm looking at is £12.5K, leaving me a tidy sum for the rest of it.

Any help is definitely welcome, I really don't want to rent if I can help it - finding somewhere near with the dogs, rats, degus and fish will be hard to say the least, and I have to have somewhere buy spring at the latest.  I'm out of this house by the end of September, me and dad are off to live with his OH while this place is sold, then they're selling her house to go and live in Spain, the jammy so-n-sos :D

Don't forget that if you don't get planning permission you'll have nowhere to live and maybe difficulty in selling the land on. It's always best to get outline planning permission BEFORE buying the land

Daisy

No-one will be able to give you an idea of the figure until you know more about the plot of land etc. You might find it difficult to even find a plot of land suitable for development that doesn't have outline planning permission already on for exactly the reason that a much higher price can be asked for it if planning permission is in place. A site sold without planning permission may never get planning approval for a number of reasons (and there are many) so it is cucial to know what the likelihood of planning approval will be if you do find such a site before you aprt with any cash.. A telephone call to the local Planning Department might be enough to determine any major obstacles but will not reveal the finer legalities.

Also, with regards to costs, it's almost impossible to guage without knowing more about the likely location of the plot etc.You have 20k to play with, 12.5k of which will be spent on the cabin? Does this include costs to erect the cabin, if not that will be extra. Then add the cost of the plot of land. And if the location is very rural, you may have to pay more to bring services like telephone, electricity, sewage disposal, gas etc. to the building. I don't wish to dishearten you at all but I reckon you could spend 20k+ before you even get anywhere near the stage of installing plumbing, electricity, heating etc

I would advise getting as much advice as possible before embarking on such a project. Building on a previously undeveloped site can be fraught with difficulties not to mention hugely expensive. And do not take estimated costs as gospel...our recent renovation (almost complete rebuliding of an old house) came in almost 3 times more than the original estimate!! Ouch!! (Our bank manager is not a happy bunny :) )

Having said all this, we intend to do something similar in a few years time (but won't have to buy the site as it's being given to us) so, if you do go ahead, I wish you all the luck in the world. Let us know how you get on.

I agree about planning - it can be really difficult to buy a plot and then find you can do nothing with it. Also it can take years to sort it out!

Dont forget that you will probably need to have power, water etc run on to the site. Depending on how far it has to come this can be really expensive. Plus you have to look at drainage options - again additional cost. Then the land may need clearing/leveling.

You need to cost absolutly everything down to the last light switch. And once you have decided and got quotes - NO changes, they rapidly get very expensive. Start asking round for tradesmen really early - we had to wait over a year for the builder that we wanted to do our extension. Internal fixtrures and fittings always seam to cost more than expected and by the time you get to them you will invariably be running out of budget.

Join some of the self build chat groups and read up on other peoples projects - it is much cheeper to learn from their mistakes.

Decide before you start what is really importaint to you and what you could live without if it really goes pear shaped and take action as soon as it looks as if it is heading that way.

When you have the plot make sure that you speak to any neighbours etc. They will probably be effected by noise, traffic, unsightly piles of sand etc and you will need to spend the next xx years living in their company, so mane them friends!

Finally these things always take longer than expected and have their stressful moments - a sounding board and shoulder to cry on is always helpful!

Many local authorities class log cabins and prefabs as temporary structures, as such they're not subject to planning permission, only permitted development rules, if you contact your planning authority they will advise you of your position free of charge, if you want to be legal about it, you need a formal letter of consent which costs around £55.00, this can be useful if neighbours object to what your doing, as they often will.

You still need to abide building regulations which requires inspections by a council building inspector at all stages of the build.

In the future, a plot of land may be looked on favourably for permanent planning permission if it has had a temporary structure on it for some time.

If your planning authority drag their heels or become difficult, you can bypas them and go through  the office of the deputy primeminister who have absolute power over palnning applications, the deputy primimister is very keen on building at the moment.

Excellent, very helpful all round, thank you all!

Robert, I did wonder about the position of local authorities on the cabins, I thought it might be something along those lines.  I'm going to dig around for some contact numbers and start talking to the relevant people while I keep looking for a suitable plot.

I'm also thinking about taking out a loan of say £10-15,000 - just to give me a bit more should I need it, and maybe to allow me to get the next size up of the cabin, gives me an extra room - somewhere I can lock the small furries out of the dogs' reach :D

Thanks again, I will let you all know how it goes as it's going on, hopefully next year I'll be settled in to a nice wooden cabin with the dogs lounging on squishy sofas :)

I have done several self builds however that is not really what to do.

You will need to speak to the council for sure of you find something. If you find something with planning they may not be happy for you to put a temporary building on it.  Any plot I have bought you would never have been able to do it.

Nowadays because of stricter planning when I plot comes with planning sometimes there is stipulation that a dwelling meetin planning requirements must be up and finished in 18 -24 months. etc

I am confused about your figures of money do you have £20K and that is it or £20K plus the land money?

Services alone can be as little as £2K with a serviced plot or £8K and upwards without.

Drainage is a Biggy that you need to watch for.

As a rule for building a house it costs between £500-£500  per square metre PLUS the land.

Sorry not too clear there, I have £20K for certain, and I'm thinking about getting a £10-15K loan.  The cabin comes pre-fab, the company that makes them will deliver and erect it for 10% of the cost of the cabin, including doing the insulation, but I have to sort out drainage, electrics and so on.

Thing is not to put a dampener on it :-( honestly I wouldn't , but trying to give you honest and realistic advice.

Even buying a bit of land at £20k you will need quite a bit more for all the other stuff.  Even a serviced plot only has the serivices to the edge.  I think out last plot the services were about £2500 and we had access to JCB etc.  you need insurance to do any work like this and it generally is a one of price for the insurance of about £800-£1000. We always take it out and 2 times have needed to claim off it as the jcb hit the electricity main cable 2 different times. ( costing about £8K to fix it)

How about asking the cabin people if they could give you some contacts of people who have done it.

I think to do what you are talking about you would need to get a peice of ground WITHOUT planning, really cheap and ask of you can put the cabin on as a temporary structure.

Sorry not probably being much help but you don't want to take something on and realise you can't finish it and then you will have lost everything.

You may be better to try and buy a old completely run down shack of a house sitting semi rural, get it cheap and get a little mortgage on it.  Chip away doing it up. This way it will have services etc just  not be a palace.

Actually, you are being a great help!  It's good to talk to someone who's done something similar, helps me get a good idea of what's involved, costs and so on.  I'll talk to the cabin company, that's a darn good idea, thanks :)