New Builds & Self-Build
Build the house you actually want. From self-build projects on your own plot to replacement dwellings and garden infill — we manage the entire process from planning to handing over the keys.
Build Exactly What You Want
Buying a house means compromising. The kitchen's too small, the garden faces north, the bedrooms are on the wrong side, there's no utility room. Building a new home means you get every room exactly where you want it, sized exactly how you need it, finished to your specification. No compromises.
We build new homes across the UK for self-builders, custom-build clients, and homeowners replacing existing dwellings. From compact 2-bedroom bungalows to 5-bedroom family homes, each project gets the same level of attention — proper foundations, quality materials, airtight construction, and finishes that'll last decades.
A new build is the biggest construction project most people will ever undertake. The decisions are complex, the regulations are extensive, and the costs need careful management. That's where we come in. We don't just build the house — we project-manage the entire process, coordinating with your architect, structural engineer, warranty provider, and building control so you don't have to become a construction expert overnight.
Why Self-Build?
Self-build doesn't mean picking up a trowel yourself (though some owners do). It means commissioning and managing the construction of your own home on your own land. The benefits are significant:
Cost savings: You can build a home for 20–30% less than buying the equivalent on the open market. A 150m² 4-bedroom house at mid-range specification costs £330,000–£420,000 to build (excluding land). The same house on the open market in most parts of the UK would cost considerably more.
CIL exemption: Self-builders can claim exemption from the Community Infrastructure Levy — a saving of tens of thousands of pounds in high-CIL areas. You must apply before starting work and live in the house as your primary residence for at least 3 years.
VAT reclaim: Self-builders can reclaim the VAT on most materials and some services through HMRC's DIY Housebuilders' Scheme. On a £300,000 build, that's potentially £50,000+ back in your pocket. The claim must be made within 3 months of the building control completion certificate.
Energy performance: New builds must meet current Part L standards (2025 update), which require significantly better insulation, airtightness, and heating efficiency than existing homes. Your energy bills will be a fraction of what you'd pay in a comparable older property. Many self-builders go beyond the minimum — Passivhaus, heat pumps, solar PV, and battery storage are increasingly common.
We work with self-builders across London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, and throughout the UK.
Types of New Build Project
New build projects come in several forms, each with different planning considerations, budgets, and timescales.
Self-Build
You own the land, you commission the design, and you appoint us to build it. This is the purest form of building your own home — total control over every decision from foundation type to kitchen tap finish. Self-build plots come from land agents, auction sites, council self-build registers (every local authority is required to maintain one), and word of mouth. We can advise on plot assessment before you commit — checking ground conditions, access, services availability, and planning history. Typical build time: 10–14 months on site.
Custom Build
Similar to self-build but with less direct involvement in the design. You choose from a range of layout options and finishes provided by the developer or architect, and we build to that specification. Custom build is increasingly popular on serviced plots (where roads, utilities, and drainage are already in place) offered by developers who sell individual plots with planning permission. You get the benefits of a new home designed to your preferences without the complexity of managing the entire planning and design process yourself.
Replacement Dwelling
Demolishing an existing house and building a new one in its place. This is often the best option when a property is beyond economical repair — severe subsidence, extensive damp, structural failure, or simply an outdated layout that can't be efficiently renovated. Planning permission is typically easier to obtain for a replacement dwelling than for a completely new plot because the principle of residential use is already established. You still need to demonstrate that the new building is appropriate in scale and design. The existing dwelling is demolished before construction begins — budget £8,000–£15,000 for demolition and site clearance.
Garden Plot Development
Building a new home on part of your existing garden — known as "garden infill" or "backland development." This is one of the most accessible routes into self-build because you already own the land. The key challenge is planning: you need to demonstrate adequate access, parking, garden space for both the existing and new dwellings, and that the new house doesn't cause unacceptable harm to neighbours (overlooking, loss of light, overbearing impact). Garden plots in areas with high land values can be extremely lucrative — the plot alone may be worth £100,000–£300,000+ in parts of London and the South East.
New Build Costs in 2026
Build costs depend on specification, construction method, and location. Here are the realistic figures for 2026, based on traditional masonry construction. All prices per square metre, excluding land.
Budget Specification
£1,800 – £2,200/m²
Standard blockwork cavity walls with mineral wool insulation, concrete roof tiles, uPVC windows, basic kitchen and bathroom fittings, gas boiler heating, and standard electrical installation. Suitable for a functional, well-built home without luxury finishes. A 120m² 3-bedroom house at this level costs £216,000–£264,000 to build. This specification meets all building regulations but doesn't exceed them significantly.
Mid-Range Specification
£2,200 – £2,800/m²
Enhanced insulation (exceeding Part L minimums), quality kitchen with stone worktops, good sanitaryware (Villeroy & Boch, Duravit), engineered timber flooring, air-source heat pump, underfloor heating throughout the ground floor, aluminium or timber windows, and a well-specified electrical installation with Cat 6 data cabling and EV charging point. A 150m² 4-bedroom house: £330,000–£420,000. This is where most self-builders land — a home that's better than anything you'd buy from a volume house builder.
High-End Specification
£2,800 – £3,500+/m²
Architect-designed with premium materials throughout. Structural insulated panels (SIPs) or timber frame with enhanced airtightness, triple-glazed windows, ground-source heat pump, whole-house MVHR (mechanical ventilation with heat recovery), bespoke kitchen, natural stone bathrooms, smart home system, solar PV with battery storage, and landscaped grounds. A 200m² 5-bedroom house: £560,000–£700,000+. At this level, you're building a home that approaches or achieves Passivhaus performance standards.
Additional Costs
Budget Separately
Professional fees: Architect (6–12% of build cost), structural engineer (£2,000–£5,000), planning consultant (£1,500–£3,000), project manager if separate (5–10%). Site costs: Demolition of existing structure (£8,000–£15,000), site clearance and preparation (£3,000–£10,000), temporary services (£1,500–£3,000). Connections: Water (£1,000–£3,000), electricity (£1,000–£5,000), gas (£500–£2,000), drainage (£2,000–£8,000 for new connections). Warranties: £1,500–£4,000. CIL: Varies by authority (£0–£400+/m²).
Regional Build Cost Variations
Labour accounts for 40–50% of build costs, so regional wage variations have a significant impact. Material costs are broadly similar nationwide.
London & South East: £2,400–£3,500+/m²
Highest labour costs, restricted site access, expensive skip hire, and complex planning requirements in many boroughs. London self-builds often cost 25–35% more than the national average.
Midlands & North West: £1,800–£2,600/m²
Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool — competitive labour market, good trade availability. CIL rates tend to be lower than the South East, saving tens of thousands.
North East & Yorkshire: £1,700–£2,400/m²
Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle — typically the lowest build costs in England. Land prices are also significantly lower, making self-build financially attractive.
South West & Wales: £1,900–£2,700/m²
Bristol and Bath push the upper end. Rural plots in Devon, Cornwall, and Wales offer lower land costs but add to delivery logistics and trade travel.
Planning Permission & Building Regulations
The Planning Process for New Builds
Every new dwelling requires full planning permission. There's no permitted development route for building a new house. The process is more involved than an extension or conversion, and getting it right first time saves months of delay and thousands in resubmission fees.
Pre-application advice (£200–£600): Before investing in full architectural drawings, submit a pre-application enquiry to your local planning authority. You'll receive written feedback on the principle of development, likely design requirements, and any potential obstacles. It's not binding, but it significantly reduces the risk of refusal.
Full planning application (£528 per dwelling in England, 2026): Requires site plans, floor plans, elevations, a design and access statement, and supporting documents — drainage strategy, ecological survey (if trees or hedgerows are affected), transport statement (if access changes), and heritage assessment (near listed buildings or conservation areas). The statutory determination period is 8 weeks, but most authorities take 10–13 weeks in practice.
Planning conditions: Permission is almost always granted with conditions — approved materials, landscaping scheme, drainage details, construction management plan, ecological mitigation. These conditions must be discharged (approved) before or during construction. Failure to comply can result in enforcement action.
CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy): Most local authorities charge CIL on new residential floor space. Rates vary from £0 to over £400/m² depending on location. A 150m² house in a high-CIL zone could face a £60,000+ charge. Self-builders can claim full exemption — apply to the council before starting work. The exemption requires you to live in the house as your sole or main residence for 3 years from completion.
Section 106 agreements: On some sites (particularly larger plots or former commercial land), the council may require a Section 106 agreement covering affordable housing contributions, infrastructure payments, or other obligations. These are negotiated as part of the planning process.
Building Regulations for New Builds
New builds must comply with all parts of the Building Regulations. This is more extensive than extension work because you're building an entire structure from scratch. The main parts are:
Part A — Structure: Foundations, walls, roof, and floor must be designed by a structural engineer. Ground investigation (trial holes or boreholes) determines foundation type and depth. On good ground, strip foundations at 1m depth are standard. On clay soil, near trees, or on filled ground, you may need deeper trench-fill, raft foundations, or piles — adding £5,000–£20,000 to foundations alone.
Part B — Fire Safety: Escape routes, smoke detection (interlinked alarms on every level), fire-resistant construction between the garage and habitable rooms, and external wall cladding compliance.
Part L — Conservation of Energy (2025 update): The most impactful regulation for new builds. Walls must achieve a U-value of 0.18 W/m²K, floors 0.13, roofs 0.11, and windows 1.2. Air permeability must not exceed 8 m³/hr/m² at 50Pa (most new builds target 3–5). A SAP (Standard Assessment Procedure) calculation is required, demonstrating the dwelling's energy performance. The 2025 Part L update requires a 31% reduction in CO₂ emissions compared to 2013 standards — in practice, this means most new builds now need heat pumps, solar PV, or both.
SAP Calculations: Your SAP assessor models the building's energy performance during design, producing a predicted energy rating. The calculation considers wall/roof/floor insulation, window performance, airtightness, heating system efficiency, hot water system, and renewable energy. The completed building is then tested (air permeability test is mandatory) and a final SAP assessment issued. The SAP rating feeds into your EPC (Energy Performance Certificate), which must be at least Band B for most new builds.
Part F — Ventilation: New builds typically require either natural ventilation with trickle vents and extract fans, or whole-house MVHR (Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery). MVHR is standard on airtight builds — it extracts stale air from kitchens and bathrooms, passes it through a heat exchanger (recovering 85–95% of the heat), and supplies fresh, filtered, preheated air to living rooms and bedrooms.
Building Regulations Stages & Warranty Inspections
A new build involves multiple inspections by building control and your warranty provider. Here's the sequence of key stages.
Foundations
The first critical inspection. Building control and the warranty provider inspect the foundation trenches before concrete is poured — checking depth, width, soil conditions, and compliance with the structural engineer's design. On sites with variable ground, this inspection may require adjustments (deeper trenches, wider strips, or a switch to piles). The DPC (damp-proof course) is inspected once the blockwork reaches ground level — typically two courses above finished ground level.
Superstructure & Pre-Plaster
Walls, floors, and roof structure are inspected before being covered up. Building control checks structural steelwork, joist hangers, wall ties, cavity insulation, fire stopping, and roof structure. The warranty provider runs a parallel inspection. This is also when the air permeability test is conducted — the building is pressurised and the leakage rate measured. Any gaps in the airtightness barrier must be sealed before plastering covers them. First-fix plumbing and electrics are inspected before plasterboarding.
Completion
The final inspection covers everything: fire detection, drainage testing, energy performance (commissioning the heating system, checking U-values match the SAP calculation), electrical testing (certification from a Part P registered electrician), and general compliance. Building control issues a completion certificate. The warranty provider issues the 10-year structural warranty policy. Both documents are essential for selling or remortgaging the property. We manage all inspections and address any observations before sign-off.
Structural Warranty Providers
Why You Need a Warranty
Every new build needs a structural warranty — typically a 10-year policy that covers defects in the structure (foundations, walls, roof, floors) for the first 10 years after completion. Mortgage lenders require it. Without one, most lenders won't offer a mortgage on the property, which effectively makes it unsellable to anyone who isn't a cash buyer.
The warranty provider inspects the build at key stages (foundations, DPC, superstructure, pre-plaster, completion). If they identify non-compliance at any stage, the issue must be resolved before the build progresses. This provides an independent check on build quality alongside building control — two sets of eyes are better than one.
Warranty costs range from £1,500 to £4,000 depending on the build value and the provider. The policy is transferable — if you sell the house within 10 years, the warranty transfers to the new owner automatically.
The Main Providers
NHBC (Buildmark): The largest and most recognised warranty provider in the UK. Covers over 80% of new homes. Provides a 2-year builder warranty period (the builder fixes defects) followed by an 8-year structural insurance policy. NHBC sets standards that exceed building regulations in some areas. Registration fee: typically £1,800–£3,500.
LABC Warranty: Backed by local authority building control. Combines the warranty with the building regulations inspection service, which can simplify the process — one inspector for both. Competitive pricing and well-regarded by lenders. Cost: £1,500–£3,000.
Premier Guarantee: An independent provider popular with self-builders and smaller developers. Flexible approach and competitive pricing. Accepted by all major mortgage lenders. Offers 10 and 12-year policies. Cost: £1,500–£2,800.
Protek: Another independent provider offering 10-year warranties. Known for quick turnaround and good customer service. Slightly lower profile than NHBC but fully accepted by lenders. Cost: £1,200–£2,500.
We work with all four providers and can advise on the best fit for your project. If you have a preference, we're happy to work with that. The key is to register the warranty before starting work — the provider needs to inspect from foundations upward.
How Long Does a New Build Take?
From finding a plot to moving in, here's a realistic timeline for a typical self-build or new build project.
Pre-Construction: 6–12 Months
Plot assessment and purchase: Variable — could be weeks or years depending on availability. Once you've identified a plot, check planning history, access rights, services availability, and ground conditions before committing.
Design and planning (3–6 months): Architect produces drawings. Pre-application advice sought. Full planning application submitted (8–13 weeks determination). Structural engineer produces calculations. SAP assessor runs preliminary energy calculations. Building regulations application submitted.
Pre-construction preparation (1–2 months): Warranty provider registered. Contractor appointed (us). Detailed programme of works agreed. Materials procurement begins — structural timber, roof trusses, and windows have long lead times (6–12 weeks). Temporary services (water, electricity) connected to site. Site access prepared.
Construction: 9–14 Months
Groundwork and foundations (4–6 weeks): Site clearance, excavation, foundation trenches, concrete pour, drainage runs, ground-floor slab or beam-and-block floor. This phase is most weather-dependent — heavy rain can delay foundation work by weeks.
Superstructure (8–12 weeks): Walls to plate level, first-floor joists and structure, second-floor walls (if applicable), roof structure and tiling. At this stage, the building is weathertight — a major milestone. Timber frame construction can achieve weathertight in 2–3 weeks from foundations, compared to 8–12 weeks for traditional masonry.
First fix (4–6 weeks): Internal stud walls, plumbing runs (hot, cold, waste), electrical wiring, heating distribution (underfloor pipes or radiator runs), MVHR ductwork, insulation, and air barrier. All concealed within the walls and floors before boarding.
Second fix and finishes (8–12 weeks): Plastering, kitchen fitting, bathroom fitting, second-fix electrics (sockets, switches, lights), second-fix plumbing (taps, sanitaryware, shower valves), decoration throughout, flooring, doors and ironmongery, external landscaping and driveway.
Commissioning and handover (1–2 weeks): Heating system commissioned, electrical testing and certification, air permeability test, final building control inspection, warranty provider final inspection, snagging list completed, keys handed over.
Other Services You Might Need
Building a new home often involves specialist elements that we handle as part of the project or coordinate with trusted subcontractors.
Structural Work
Foundations, steelwork, retaining walls, and ground stabilisation — all part of a new build but also available as standalone services for complex sites or remedial work on existing structures.
Roofing
From traditional slate and tile to modern standing-seam zinc or single-ply membrane. The roof is a significant percentage of the build cost — see our roofing page for material comparisons and pricing.
Bathroom Design
New build bathrooms are designed from scratch with no existing plumbing constraints. See our bathroom renovation page for specification guidance, wet room options, and underfloor heating detail.
House Extensions
Planning your new home with future expansion in mind? We can design the foundations and structure to accommodate a later extension, saving significant cost when you're ready to add space.
New Build Questions
Common questions from people planning a self-build or new build project. If yours isn't answered here, get in touch — we're happy to help.
Common Questions
Details regarding our process, planning constraints, and project timelines.
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