Self-Build Mortgages. DIY For Adventurers
Does television influence our behaviour? It's a big question and the answer seems to be, yes very much so. Self-build mortgages to finance self-build homes is the latest trend to be reinforced by TV programmes such as Grand Designs or A Place in The Sun. There seems to be something very appealing about getting your own cement mixer and making like Bob The Builder. And is he encouraging the next generation of self-mortgagees? Marks and Spencer’s is the latest big name to offer 'kit' housing and the complementary financing.
It is difficult to gauge the numbers of people actively pursuing self-build, but it is certainly growing. Several building societies estimate that about 15,000 DIYers are having ago at their own homes each year. Others think the number may be as high as 25,000. Several lenders are putting effort behind self-build mortgage lending. It is very much a niche market but it has risen fourfold from five years Ago. Thirty three percent of detached houses built in Britain are self-built.
Another indicator of the self-build burgeoning popularity is the circulation of self-build magazines. The editor of 'Build It' reports their magazine's circulation has soared by up to 20 per cent over the last year. They now sell about 30,000. Self-build trends identified in the magazine are for more contemporary living places. People desire open-plan living with maximum light and space. Self-builders like to think they're pioneers of a new approach and it is a northern phenomenon. The further north, the easier self-build gets because finding an affordable plot with permission to build on it in the south-east is a disheartening endeavor, but some do succeed against the odds.
One such successful SE self-builder owns of a 450-year-old timber-framed barn in Penshurst, Kent. The owner recently purchased for nearly half a million pounds, from a local estate agent. It was near derelict. Had it fallen down planning permission for the conversion would not have been forthcoming and they needed to get Bob the Builder to keep it upright.
She succeeded, and now hope to convert it into a six-bedroom house on two floors, with under floor heating, galleried ceilings and oak timbers rescued from under the medieval floorboards. When complete they believe the property will have doubled in value. It has all round panoramic views and is in the heart of the London commuter belt.
Self-build is not as easy as buying something ready made on estate of identical other houses. The problems are that it requires plenty of space. And that is a product even M & S cannot provide.
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