Build less

By far the simplest and most effective way to reduce the cost of building is to make it smaller – primarily by reducing the floor area.

A well considered and more compact house can easily surpass a large poorly considered house in every meaningful way; offering better amenity, aesthetics, lifestyle quality, and environmental and energy use performance at a reduced upfront and ongoing cost.

Without a level of design discipline, you can easily waste a lot of money on excessive ‘‘bling’’, functionally and visually awkward layouts, and cavernous seldom used spaces.

In doing so you may find yourself with a mediocre, embarrassingly oversized, datedlooking and rapidly deteriorating home for your money, that you will struggle to recoup your losses on.

Focusing your money where it will do the most good is key when funds are limited, but getting the balance right is definitely an art, and far, far easier said than done if this is not your day job.