Self-Build Costs and Finance

Staged mortgages, VAT reclaim and realistic budgets

Money decides whether a self-build works, and this book shows you how to be honest with the numbers when every instinct pulls you towards optimism. It picks out the handful of figures that decide a project, shows where to find reliable local data for free, and explains what income means in a self-build, where there is no rent. You will build a full cost stack rather than thinking only of the plot and the build, the single habit behind most failed budgets, with staged self-build mortgages and VAT reclaim explained where they apply. The budget is then stress-tested against delays, overruns and rate rises. A complete worked example costs one project from bare plot to finished home, and the final chapter gives you a simple calculator to run on any project before you commit, along with the legal questions it cannot answer. Next in this series: “Right to Build, Plots and Planning”.

What’s inside

• The only numbers that actually matter
• Where to find reliable local data for free
• Working out true income, not optimistic income
• The full cost stack nobody mentions
• Stress-testing for the bad month, the void, the rate rise
• A complete worked example, start to finish
• Your deal calculator, and the legal questions it cannot answer

Educational material only, not financial, legal or tax advice. Results are not typical and are not a guarantee of income. Freedom Property Academy LTD, registered in England and Wales.