Building your own home is the project many people have thought about for years. It usually starts with a plot, or the chance of one, or an old house that might be replaced, and two questions: can we actually build what we have in mind here, and what will it cost?
Those are the right questions. The trouble is that most people start with the house and work backwards to the site. It works far better the other way round.
What should I check before buying a building plot?
Before any sketches, it pays to understand the plot properly. What is the planning history, on this site and next door? Is it in the Green Belt, a conservation area or the Surrey Hills National Landscape? Are there protected trees, and where do their roots run? How do you get in and out, and can a lorry? Where are the drains and the water main, and is there a usable electricity supply? Is the ground clay, chalk or sand, and has it been built on before? Is any part of it at risk of flooding?
Each of those can change what you can build, where on the plot it can go and how much the foundations will cost. Some of them can stop a project altogether. If you are buying a plot, do these checks before you exchange, not after.
Can you build a new house in the Green Belt?
Sometimes. Much of the land around Woking and Guildford is Green Belt, where new houses are only allowed in limited cases. The common ones on a private plot are a replacement house that is not materially larger than the one it replaces, limited infilling within a village, and the redevelopment of land that has already been built on. National policy added “grey belt” land in December 2024, but on most single plots the older exceptions still do most of the work. The size of the existing house, and how the council measures it, often decides what the new one can be.
How does planning work for a new house?
Almost every new house needs full planning permission, and the application is a bigger exercise than for an extension. Depending on the site, the council may expect reports on trees, ecology and biodiversity, drainage, access and sometimes heritage or flood risk, alongside the drawings and a design and access statement.
Biodiversity net gain, the requirement to leave a site’s habitat measurably better than before, changed on 6 August 2026. The old exemption for self-build homes has gone for new applications, but a new exemption covers sites of 0.2 hectares or less, which takes in most single-house plots unless there is priority habitat on them. On a bigger plot, budget for the ecology work and the gain itself.
A decision on a single new house usually takes 8 to 12 weeks after validation, and longer if the council asks for amendments or more information. On a sensitive site, a pre-application discussion with the council can be useful.
Nobody can promise a planning outcome. What a good architect can do is read the policy and the local decisions honestly, name the risks and shape the design to give it the best chance.
The Future Homes Standard
The Future Homes Standard comes into force for new homes in England on 24 March 2027. In practice it means a new house is heated by a heat pump or another low-carbon system, not a gas boiler, with better insulation and windows than today’s minimum. There are transitional arrangements for schemes already submitted, but if you are starting a design now, assume it applies. It costs very little to design for it from the first sketch, and a lot to retrofit later.
Budget: three things people miss
The first is the gap between the build cost and the total cost. Professional fees, surveys, reports, service connections, the planning fee, building control and the work around the house all sit outside the builder’s price. So does the contingency, and on a new build I would treat a contingency of 10–15% as the minimum.
The second is tax. New-build houses are generally zero-rated for VAT, and self-builders can usually reclaim VAT on eligible materials through HMRC’s scheme for DIY housebuilders, though the rules are specific and the claim is made after completion. If your council charges the Community Infrastructure Levy, there is an exemption for self-build, but it has to be claimed, and the commencement notice sent, before work starts on site. Miss that step and the charge can apply in full. The exemption can also be clawed back if you sell or let the house within three years. Take advice from your accountant on both.
The third is finance. Unless you are paying from savings, a self-build mortgage releases money in stages as the build goes up, and lenders will want to see the planning permission, the drawings and a credible budget before they commit.
Who do you need on a self-build?
Alongside an architect you will need a topographical survey of the plot, a structural engineer, building control and, very often, specialists for the planning reports. On a larger house a quantity surveyor is worth considering, to cost the design independently before it goes out to builders. If more than one contractor will work on site, someone has to act as principal designer under the CDM regulations. Then the builder.
How you appoint the builder matters. Sending a complete set of technical drawings to a small number of good contractors gives you prices you can compare and a clear contract. Design and build can work, but it moves the detailed decisions to the builder, and you need to be comfortable with that. Choosing the right builder has the questions to ask.
How long does it take to build your own home?
A new house follows the same sequence as any well-run project, just at a larger scale.
- Test the site and the brief: what is realistically achievable, the planning risks, and a cost band against your budget.
- Design and planning: develop the design in 3D and make the planning application.
- Technical design: the drawings, specification and building regulations application that builders price from, and the tender.
- Construction, with support on site as needed.
How the process works sets out each stage. Allow longer than you think. Our extension clients typically allow 12 to 18 months from first call to moving back in. A new house usually takes longer than that, especially where the site needs surveys and reports before the application can go in.
Get the energy right from the start
A new house is the easiest place to get energy performance right, because nothing has to be retrofitted. Good insulation and airtightness, sensible orientation and shading, ventilation with heat recovery, and a heat pump sized for a house that needs little heat are all easier to build in from the start than to add later. I trained in low-energy design, and on a new build it shapes the scheme from the first sketch. If you are wondering how far to go, the Passivhaus standard explained sets out the top end.
It also means thinking past the day you move in. Room for a lift later, a ground-floor room that could become a bedroom, a garden that is easy to look after. A new house should still fit you in twenty years.
Start with the site, not the floor plan
If you have a plot in mind, or are weighing one up, a short, fixed-fee test of what is possible on it is a sensible first step. That is what the Clarity Pack does, and the new build homes page explains how I approach the rest.
The free 15-minute Clarity Call is the place to start.
Questions people ask about building your own home
Do you pay VAT on a self-build house? New-build houses are generally zero-rated for VAT, and self-builders can usually reclaim the VAT paid on eligible materials through HMRC’s scheme for DIY housebuilders. The rules are specific and the claim is made after completion, so keep every invoice from the start. Take advice from your accountant before you rely on it in the budget.
Will a new house need a heat pump under the Future Homes Standard? In practice, yes. The Future Homes Standard comes into force for new homes in England on 24 March 2027, and it means a new house is heated by a heat pump or another low-carbon system rather than a gas boiler, with better insulation and windows than today’s minimum. There are transitional arrangements for schemes already submitted, but if you are starting a design now, assume it applies. It costs very little to design for from the first sketch and a lot to retrofit later.
Is a self-build exempt from the Community Infrastructure Levy? Where a council charges the levy, there is a self-build exemption, but it has to be claimed, and the commencement notice sent, before any work starts on site. Miss that step and the charge can apply in full. The exemption can also be clawed back if you sell or let the house within three years. Your accountant should look at it alongside the VAT position.
