Self-build: your home, your own way

This is the biggest purchase you will make in your lifetime and the best way to get exactly what you want is to be in charge of the final design, building and costs, either first-hand or through professional and skilled people...

YOUR home is the biggest and single most important purchase you will make in your life.

It is the one decision that will influence the rest of your life and vice versa to some extent. No other item - no matter how great the cost - will have so much emotion tied up within the decision-making process; a process which must also call for sound, realistic judgement while at the same time answer those deep emotional needs. No wonder it is said that buying a house is so stressful. This is not a decision you want to mess up. Our home is our haven, the place where we nurture our relationships and raise our kids; from where we go forth and build our careers and family life. A house is where we celebrate the good times with family and friends and where we retreat, gather our strength and face up to whatever bad times life might throw at us; where we express ourselves and the way we live through our choices of fixtures, fittings and furniture

We have to choose wisely

So, faced with such a massive decision and one that will consume a large part of your income and have its moments of stress, why not have exactly what you want, and build your own home? In an area like the West Highlands and islands there is not the same wide choice of housing stock as can be found in less rural or remote areas. Some sectors of the housing market have higher prices as a result. There is less speculative building by property developers; you are more likely to find a plot of land than you are a newly-built home. The move into self-build makes a lot of sense here, that is why more and more people are taking this big step. It also explains why a large number of people, once they have made their home, make the decision to stay-put and renovate or expand their existing properties to suit their needs. Some people, who are skilled tradesmen and construction professionals, or who have those skills within their family and close friends, will undertake some or all of the work themselves. Others will relish the job of finding an architect, handling the planning and paperwork and hire their own contractors while other self-builders will feel more confident if they hire a building company or choose a kit home and have all the work done for them. Whatever route you go down, one thing all self-builders agree on is they enjoy the feeling of being able to chose and be more in control of how their future home will serve their needs. And another thing that everyone who has gone down the self-build route will tell you is this: it is not just about location, location, location; it is also about finance, finance, finance and research, research, research. What you want: be it materials, professional services or skilled labour, where you are going to source them and how the cost will fit into your overall budget are things that require time, patience and diligence. If you think you lack any of those three qualities make sure your self-build project has someone on board who does. Budget is your number one priority. Get the money wrong and right from the start you will have a nightmare building your dream home. Remember: you get what you pay for and a cheap price is not always the best one; it could come back and haunt you. Do not forget that that the scale of your project could leave you open to VAT payments. A financial advisor and a quantity surveyor could be your new best friends. And that budget of yours should not just include money but time. Managing the project yourself will take time and if you have never embarked on a self-build project before you might not fully appreciate just how much time, especially if you are also have your day job to consider. But do not let any of this deter you from fulfilling your dream. Just look around this wonderful part of the world: lots of people have already done this and you can too. And one day soon you will walk through the front door of your brand new home; not someone else’s old house, not some builder’s idea of what makes a home but your very own home. Yours.