From Drawing Up House Building Plans To Planning Permission_ What You Must Do When Building Your Own Home

Taking home ownership into your own hands seems to have caught on in recent months and years. This upward trend of people deciding to build their own home is set to crescendo in 2020. Research suggests that around a million people plan to build their own properties in 2020. There are several reasons for doing so, too. Building your own home and then selling it on can see you pocket a nice profit. If selling isn’t of any interest to you, then building your own home can create a far more sentimental place to live. Whatever reason you do it for, house building plans, budgeting and much more will always take up a significant amount of time.

When building your own property, so much goes into the process. Rather than simply finding a home and applying for a mortgage, all of the decisions are left to you and the people you hire. To give you a hand, we’ve created a guide on just some of the basic things you need to consider when building your own property. From drawing up house building plans to securing planning permission, we’ve tried to give you a comprehensive outlook on the process.

House design and house building plans are essential for any successful building project. A house building plan is a scaled illustration of a building from a bird’s eye view. House building plans are critical for architects and contractors to ensure that a house building project goes smoothly. These plans feature the necessary measurements which guide contractors. They also help the homeowner plan the design of the furniture and appliances. 

With that in mind, as a potential new homeowner looking to build your own home, it’s vital not to skip this process. Working with an architect for your house building plans is critical. By working with professionals, you can create a home which is feasible in the space you have available to you as well as inject some of your own personality and ideas into the project. During this stage of the building project, you can liaise with your architect on the house building plans to ensure they meet your expectations and imagination whilst also being completely structurally sound. 

It’s all well and good planning an outlandish home, but it also needs to be practical. House building plans drawn up with the help of professionals can ensure a balance is struck.

Finding the perfect location for your home is a difficult task and completely depends on your idea of ‘perfect’. For many, that may mean somewhere which is as close to the city as possible. For others, the complete opposite is true. So, with that in mind, it’s important to understand what your priorities are when looking to build your own home. This process can take a while so it’s vital to be patient.

Some tips are to focus in on a specific location you are thinking about. Maybe you and your family love spending time in a specific area of the country; start there. Get to know the area you are thinking about over a long period and talk to some of the locals and the council about your initial ideas. You may find out some really important information during this process which will help shape your decision. Then, once you’ve decided on an area, you can begin to look for plots for sale in that area and match the space available with some of the house building plans you had in mind. Finding the right location for your home shouldn’t be a rushed process. Take your time and research thoroughly.

There are many different types of plots available to buy for self-builds. Some of the easiest plots to buy are called ‘serviced plots’. These are often already connected with electricity, water and drainage as well as planning consent. This takes a huge amount of stress and worry out of the building process and often speeds things up rapidly. These serviced plots are designed to make self-building projects far easier.

Other ways to find plots is to simply talk to estate and land agents in the area you are exploring. As well as this, talk to local architects as they will have detailed knowledge on all of the available plots and their suitability for construction.

Once you’ve decided on a plot, you will need planning permission for the next stage of the project. Without any permission, you will not be able to continue with the project. Many plots are sold with planning permission approved, however, this increases the price significantly and the permissions may not be in line with your plans. When aiming to secure planning permissions, you need to assess which body approves permissions in the area. As well as finding this out, having a survey completed on the sire will help to identify its suitability for construction. Before buying your plot, have a survey and other assessments completed which will give you a good indication of whether planning permission will be granted. Working with an architect at this stage can help speed up the process.

Finding the right architect and the best team of contractors to carry out your building project should never be decided on cost alone. Your self-build home is an expensive project that may become a home for you and your family for generations to come. You should spend time talking and consulting with architects to ensure that their vision and skills are aligned with yours. If there is a miss-match, you could be in-store for trouble ahead. 

Take not of architects’ track record and look through some of their previous projects. Having trust in your architect to ensure they will be able to realise your dreams is the most important thing.

Building your own home is a notoriously expensive process which takes huge investment if completed properly. It can be tempting to try and budget lower than what is realistic to give yourself peace of mind. However, this approach will come back to bite you. Always budget as accurately as possible to ensure you secure your funding but also to reduce the likelihood of having to seek more funding!

A cardinal rule of building a home is to prepare for things to go wrong. There may be some hidden piping in the ground that wasn’t identified during a survey or maybe there is a shortage of supplies in the area. Sometimes it can be more difficult than imagined for machinery to access the plot. Many things can go wrong and it’s important to plan for that. If you’ve got a deadline in mind, be flexible with it as well as your budget.

Here at Integrated Designs & Associates, we’re structural design engineers in Birmingham that can assist you with house building plans, structural engineering and much more. Whether you are working on a large-scale commercial project or working on house building plans for a residential project, we can help.

Our wide range of services includes professional architectural services, structural engineering and geotechnical engineering amongst much more. We provide a reliable and trustworthy service to all of the clients we work with. We provide a much-needed end-to-end service to remove the hassle of the process and ensure your house building plans are successful.

To find out more information, please feel free to contact us today. You can find us at Integrated Designs & Associates Ltd, 38, Old Walsall Rd, Birmingham, B42 1NP. Alternatively, call us on 01213 582 233 or email us at contact@integratedesigns.co.uk.