A self-build is a great way to achieve your dream home. You get to design your home from scratch, allowing you to add all the features you’ve ever wanted.
There are two main approaches to building your own home: a custom new build and a knock down rebuild.
Custom new builds involve buying vacant land and working with a developer to design and build your home from scratch.
A knock down rebuild contrastingly involves knocking down a building that you own and then building a new home on that land.
Which is the better solution? It depends on your budget, timeframe and where you plan to build.
This post explores the two options in greater detail.
Why consider a custom new build?
Custom new builds can give you full flexibility to design and build the home you want.
You get to choose the land you want to build on and then are able to personalize everything about the building from the materials to the floor plan.
Finding suitable land can be the tricky part and can push up the price of the total project.
In order to find land that is affordable and that doesn’t have zoning restrictions, many people have no choice but to buy land on the outskirts or cities or in fairly rural locations.
Vacant land within cities is harder to find and gets more expensive the more central you look.
There are developers that specialize in building custom homes that can help you find vacant land.
In fact, some developers provide land and home packages – you get to choose from a range of empty plots owned by the developer that have already been fully surveyed, reducing the need to worry about zoning restrictions.
These developers may also provide the option to choose from various home templates – this can provide inspiration when it comes to layouts and also lower design costs.
Why consider a knock down rebuild?
If you own a property and love the location you live in, but don’t like the building itself, a knock down rebuild could be an option to consider.
This allows you to stay in the same location, but build an entirely new home.
Alternatively, you can buy a dilapidated property somewhere else, knock it down and build on the land.
This could potentially allow you to affordably access plots of land in more central city locations.
Whereas a custom new build may restrict you to vacant plots of land on the edge of the city, a knock down rebuild allows you to build a home somewhere more central.
A knock down rebuild can also be cheaper and faster than a custom new build, because you don’t have to shop for land, plus all the infrastructure is already in place (with a custom new build, you may have to pay extra to connect water and mains electricity).
Of course, there is the additional task of demolition and clearance, which can vary in cost and timeframe depending on the type of property you are knocking down.
Knock down rebuilds can come with limitations.
You may not be able to get permission to demolish certain properties – particularly older and historic properties.
You may also be very limited as to what you can build in place of the old building – the new property may have to be the same size and orientation as the old one.
Which is the best option?
Choose a custom new build if you aren’t fussed with a central location and want more freedom over your design.
Choose a knock down rebuild if you want to stay in the same location or access a central city plot, and if you want to save money and time.
