Bringing services to site
Getting services to your site (if necessary) can cost as little as £500 or more than £10,000, depending on the site’s location, what services you need, and whether the connection needs to be made across private land (in which case you’ll need to secure a wayleave to grant access) or public highways (which may involve road digs by approved contractors).
If the cost of bringing in mains gas and drainage is prohibitive, it may be time to investigate the off-mains alternatives, such as oil, LPG or a renewable heating and hot water system, and a sewerage treatment plant for drainage.
It’s important to note that, while electricity is not essential during the build, a water supply is often needed early on.
CIL exemption
The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) imposes a fee on the creation of new homes, which is determined by the local authority and is based on the size of the house. The good news is that, subject to certain criteria, self-builders are now exempt from paying CIL.
Where will you live?
This is one of the biggest decisions you’ll need to make prior to your build (or perhaps even while buying your plot). Some are in a position to remain in their existing homes while self-building.
However, many need to consider an alternative, such as:
Staying with family or friends; the average self-build project takes around a year on site, so if you plan to rely on someone’s hospitality, be sure to be realistic about the timescale of the project.
Renting temporary accommodation; this is an option, but an expensive one.
Living on site in a caravan, a static or perhaps in an outbuilding built first.
lllReclaiming VAT
One of the major benefits of building your own home is that you can reclaim VAT on most building materials. Vat-registered builders and subbies should also zero-rate their invoices, while, of course, if they’re not Vat-registered, they shouldn’t be adding it to bills in the first place!
In general, you can reclaim for all materials that are fixed into the house, but the interpretation of this can be complex. For instance, you can reclaim VAT on timber flooring, but not carpet.you cannot reclaim VAT for design fees or services. You can only make one claim (using the VAT 431NB form available to download at: www.gov.uk/vat-building-new-home/howto-claim). Don’t underestimate the time you’ll save by keeping your VAT receipts safely in one place as you go along.
There are a small number of self-build VAT experts who can aid with this process and can help you maximise your reclaim.