6 things to consider before building a new home

Building a new home can solve a whole host of property problems. A new home is designed for what you need and will work for your family and lifestyle; everything is new and reliable, it looks amazing and can be a great use of a building budget.

But before you even think about laying a single brick, here is our advice on what to consider before you begin.

Where will you build your new home?
Will you be buying land, or building on land you already have? It’s all about location – and before you buy land, it’s best to check what’s possible, which we can help with, because we’re up to date on local authority planning across the South East.
If you’re building on land you already own, the same principle applies – make sure you can get permission for what you want.

Will planning be an issue?
Some plots, whether you own them or are thinking of buying, might have restrictions that stop you from building, or building what you want. Heritage, conservation, wildlife, nature, access, and even the neighbours could be early hurdles that need looking into.
Don’t rush into a purchase without knowing first.

What can you build for your budget – what’s possible?
Planning is so important – scoping out what you want and costing it up are so important. Some projects we have worked on have uncovered challenges in this early stage – but they have been worked around and built into costs and timescales.
We work with clients to design what they want, price it up and make changes to maximise budget or bring costs down back into budget.

Can you revise old plans?
The land you are buying might come with old plans which can be revised if they don’t suit your needs – you’re not usually stuck with them! Likewise, if your home or plot has existing planning, this can be revised if it no longer works for you. The beauty of a new build is that it can be what you want it to be – within reason!

Who will manage the project?
Project managing takes a lot of time and effort – it’s not 9-5 and sometimes requires lots of communication and decisions to be made quickly to avoid hold-ups. Most of our clients allow us to project manage everything – those who take plans forward themselves usually have previous experience.

Where will you live while the build is in progress?
If you are building a second property on the plot, you may be able to live in the old one during the build and then move from this to the new one.
You may be demolishing and rebuilding on the same spot – if this is the case, we may be able to build temporary accommodation into the plans as we have done before for a few clients.