Custom Build: a Chance to Choose
Photo by Avel Chuklanov on Unsplash
Custom Build is a way to create an individual home. The idea of Custom Build is that the Homebuyer buys the plot and instructs a housebuilder to build a house for them. The Homebuyer has the opportunity to design and specify the home. A chance to choose.
Britain has a poor record when it comes to Custom Build. In many countries in Europe, the US and Australia, a great many new homes are commissioned by those who will live in them. In Britain some 73% of new homes are built by a small number of national housebuilders.
No wonder then that Government wishes to change this. It wants to input more individual design into new housing. It has required all local planning authorities to provide a self-build/Custom build register of residents wishing to buy building plots. It has offered tax incentives to those wishing to custom build.
What has always been a hinderance to Custom Build is the lack of suitable plots. Now with the right to register, there is the opportunity to see more plots available for custom builds. Planning authorities are granting planning permissions limited to Custom Build.
A further limitation to the concept of Custom Build is that building plots often come in multiples. This means that any site with more than a single plot will require communal work of some kind. Works that are not related to any one plot but are essential to service the estate. Demolition of an existing building, surveys, estate road, drainage, services, landscaping are all matters that may need to be dealt with to ensure that the plot buyer buys a serviced plot.
These communal works are undertaken by a Development Manager. He provides the essential serviced package such that each individual plot is ready to build. The plot buyer buys the plot from the Landowner with a simultaneous service package at an additional cost from the Development Manager. Having bought the plot the plot buyer may wish to alter design of the home and the Development Manager will assist with advice as to what is practical.
There are two advantages often available to the plot buyer. First SDLT (stamp duty) is only charged on the plot price, not the end value of the completed home. Also Custom Build is exempt from community infrastructure levy.
The Development Manager will offer a building contract for the new home when the design and specification are finalised. This might be at a fixed price, a cost plus contract or the supervision of works undertaken by a selected timber frame package company. There is adequate opportunity for variations too as plot buyers often wish to make small changes as work proceeds.
The Outline planning permission will give an indication of the limitations to design and specification but the plot buyer will have the chance to choose many materials and fittings in the new home. Matters such as kitchens, bathrooms, floor finishes, garden and landscaping and the design of internal room layout to suit each family’s needs. Building brand new gives the best opportunity to ensure energy efficiency to reduce ongoing costs. The Development Manager will advise what renewable energy sources suit best.
Custom Build could be the future for new homes. It beckons the way for creative design, improved quality and energy efficiency. It really is a chance to choose.
Denis Minns is the author of Projects in Property: the business of residential property development. Bath Publishing.