Mike Hardwick sets out the key things to bear in mind before self-building your dream home

BEFORE YOU SELF-BUILD

DAVE BURTON

When Jonathan Bootland set out to build his dream home, he ended up modifying the plans numerous times to overcome objections from neighbours and his local planning department. “The neighbours created a posse, raising funds to employ a planning consultant who submitted an eight-page report to the local authority as to why planning should not be granted”, he says. “I just wasn’t prepared to give in and was adamant that this was going to be the site of our family home.”

I f you are seriously contemplating creating your own home, I’d be very surprised if you did so on a whim.

The more likely scenario is that you’ve researched the options and the processes involved in some detail so that things progress as smoothly as can be expected. After all, this is probably the biggest investment you’ll make, so you want it all to work well.

To help you get it right, I’ve collated 10 things I think you should consider before you start work on your project. It’s not an exhaustive list, and I bet plenty of other self-builders could add several of their own suggestions to mine, but hopefully this will set you off in the right direction.

1 Understand what’s actually involved

You’ve made a good start by reading Build It magazine! But there are a number of resources out there that can help those unfamiliar with the construction process learn what it is all about. I’d suggest you make use of them as much as possible.