Home Building

In the UK and many other parts of the world people rely upon builders to build their homes for them and they buy a home which looks like all their neighbours homes and the builders take a large profit from them, but times are starting to see the nucleus of change, in the UK around 8% of the population build their home or commission a bespoke home to be built for them and of this 8% the majority are homes commissioned and built by builders. In Austria around 80% of the population build their own homes, and of this 80% a small minority commission them.

Home builds are evolving and instead of the traditional housing built in the same way, using the same materials, using the same methodologies, the same fittings, and the same floorplans; people are becoming more creative and looking to build something more bespoke and individual and if I am asked if I like them all then the answer is no, but the designer and builder have built what the customer wants and they like it, so who is anyone to criticise their build if everyones tastes differ, but, would I encourage home building? YES.

When something is standard and uniform it makes like easier, the architect can do a simple design with a mirror image for semi's, planners only have to look at one design instead of every individual design, and the engineers only have to approve calculations on one set of plans instead of doing them individually and this makes life easy for them all, if they are all brick built they only need look up the characteristics of the specified brick, the span charts for roof trusses, and work out one set of structural loadings, and then look at the specifications for U values for insulation and work out wind loadings.

One thing currently in its infancy is a full street of bespoke homes where every home is different, and where the plans are individual to one property and once specified they use one set of contractors to lay slabs instead of footings to each individual layout and you build your home on your plot. Dave may be older and single, he has grown up children and grand children and needs a smaller home and a larger garden as he grows his own food, Darren and his wife have two children and need a larger house which incorporates a home office as he is self employed and he can live with a smaller garden; Doris is just retired and is looking to build her home to suit her and incorporates features which will be tailored to her getting older. Delilah may be an eco freak and sustainability and eco friendliness are her prime objectives. Four people and four different requirements.

Dave may want three bedrooms and have his home smaller and set into the middle of his plot and have his garden at the rear of his property, he wants enough room for his small car on the front of his property and enough space for another car when his children come and enough bedroom space for his children and grand children; he is a gardener and wants a tool shed and large greenhouse on his property and a wide path along either side of his house is sufficient, he also wants a traditional brick built house and a clay tiled roof.

Darren may want a four bedroomed house, one for him and his wife, and one for each of his children and a spare for his office, he may want his property to the side of the property so he can have a driveway along one side down to his double garage and workshop on his garden, and sufficient space for his wife's car with sufficient room for both his children to park when they are old enough to get a car, he may use pre fabricated wooden SIPS panels with a wood cladding finish and have a reconstituted roof with loft space for everything they collect.

Doris may be on her own and want a smaller house and as she is getting older she builds a chalet style house and incorporates a small lift to get into the roofspace as this is a flexible space which can be a spare bedroom and a hobby room, and she wants a metal roof ina vibrant colour and a limestone cladding, she has good views and wants large windows all round and a large and well laid out kitchen because she enjoys cooking, and a nice low maintenance patio area for the evening.

Delilah may be all eco, this would be a wooden framed house with a traditional cladding facade, eco insulation such as chopped paper and large windows to capture the light and heat, she may want a loft with a fixed staircase as this will house water tanks, one for the hot water collected from the solar panels, and another to collect the roof water for grey water systems, and she would have a single ply, membrane roof system, she would have storage batteries for her solar electricity and low voltage LED lighting for most of her home.

As we can see we have four homes with four differing requirements and self building allows all of this to happen, labour costs for new builds are around 40-50% of the total cost and home building allows for more flexibility if planners become less complacent and expand their knowledge of different materials and how they work and avoid the staid nature they are currently in and learn there is more to building homes that bricks and tiles, and that by home building we can have whole streets of individual homes tailored to peoples needs with new technologies incorporated.