Build your own home - and save thousands
Building your own home costs a fifth less than buying from a developer, but costs are rising faster than new build property prices, research shows.
House prices fall for third monthThe average home-buyer can save 55,000 pounds by commissioning the build of a three-bedroom property, compared to buying a new build from a developer, according to property portal propertyfinder.com.
A typical home of that size costs an average of 267,600 pounds in England, while the cost of land, materials and labour would total only 212,850 pounds - 20.1 percent less.
Some 20,000 homes are self-built in the UK each year - equivalent to 12 percent of housing completions.
But costs vary widely, largely on account of huge discrepancies in the price of land.
The average cost of building a three-bedroom home ranges from 152,644 pounds in the East Midlands to 295,054 pounds in London.
That, says propertyfinder.com, can be attributed to the fact that a hectare of land with planning permission costs 9.6 million pounds in London, but just 1.9 million pounds in the East Midlands.
Consequently, potential savings from self-build vary from 33,229 pounds in Yorkshire to 101,389 pounds in the southeast of England. London home-builders save less than average - 43,813 pounds, or 13 percent less than the cost of buying a new build home.
Nicholas Leeming, a director of propertyfinder.com, said: "The regions with the most expensive home prices are not, as you might expect, where the savings from commissioning your own build are highest.
"The relationship between land prices and house prices is the most important factor.
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