Eco Kit Homes by Neat Living

Financing your self-build

There are many ways to finance a self build. Depending on your situation, you may have a house to sell, already own a plot, have cash to invest or maybe you’ve won the national lottery! Did you know that mortgages are available on self-build houses?

From the outset, you should seek your own independent financial advice from a qualified professional or suitable organisation.

If you think that a self-build loan or mortgage could be an option, you should make contact with a specialist broker. As a broker, BuildStore has been developing self-build mortgage products for over 20 years and can help to identify what the different options are for you.

A self-build mortgage allows custom builders to borrow money in clearly defined stages, rather than as a lump sum. We would recommend thoroughly investigating in detail how the lenders define these stages and their criteria for the staged or milestone drawdowns - which is critically important when you need to make staged payments in advance for kit manufacture.

Cash flow with self-build must not be overlooked. These stages, or more precisely the cash drawdowns associated with these stages, should dovetail to allow the purchase of land, preparing access, groundworks and laying foundations in advance of your new kit home. The mortgage lender will typically insist that work is independently assessed and valued as the work proceeds. Neat Living will work with the appointed independent assessor as part of that process.

Designs with strong sustainability credentials, such as our Flex home range, could be eligible for better self build loan rates, such as those available from Ecology Building Society, who recognise that energy conscious customers will be future-proofed as they will be less susceptible to fluctuations in energy pricing. In other words, they generally represent a lower risk of default. If you already own a plot outright in Scotland, a second option could be the Self Build loan fund.

If you already have a house and want to downsize then that makes the self build step a little easier. By setting the budget below the value of your existing home, you could complete the move into a new warm and cosy home with cash to spare. Speak to your adviser about the best way to make this transition.

We highly recommend starting your conversation with a mortgage broker as early as possible - ideally before you have bought a plot.

Planning permission

Once you feel like you have a viable design that you can afford to build, the next stage is to apply for planning/pre-planning.

A pre-application for planning is an easy way of getting an indication of any difficulties you’re likely to encounter when you apply for full planning. The more information you have to give them at this stage, the more detailed your feedback can be.

Because our Neat Living Flex homes are already fully designed we can quickly pull together a detailed design and produce a location and site layout plan for your local authority. This way, there’s no need to go through the whole design process with a bespoke architect-led design only to find that the planning department has rejected your application.

At Neat Living, we provide all the support that is needed including preparing and submitting your planning application. Our pre-planning strategy can help to identify what surveys need to be done before you apply for full planning.

CONTACT

For more information call 0141 297 1927 or visit www.neat-living.com