With some 13% of all new houses built every year in the UK being self builds, and 20,000 self builders spending in the region of £2 billion a year on land and building costs, self build site insurance is now almost a common place insurance.
more ..... Having your very own, custom-built dream home is a lot easier and cheaper than you might think. Although building your own property involves a great deal of planning and hard work, it's within the reach of most people, especially now that many mortgage lenders will lend on self-build properties.
more ..... A discussion of the requirements for the avoidance of the risk of landfill gas ingress into buildings. All Entrepreneurs should be aware of the risks from landfill gas and the measures needed to avoid these duing landfill developments.
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David and Anjana's tiny coach house was proving too small for them and their two children. So they decided to build a new house in their own garden, which was big by London standards. But this particular grassy plot came with problems. It was overlooked by huge blocks of flats, and in the middle of it stood a chestnut tree they weren't allowed to cut down. They came up with an inspired solution: they would build a curving house along the borders of their plot. What's more, they would do a lot of the work themselves. Time: 49 min.....
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Christine Benjamin and her husband Peter currently live in an Edwardian manor house called Medland Manor. Both in their 60s, the manor is getting to be too large for them, so they've decided to build themselves something smaller. Despite the manor's traditional style, Peter and Christine felt strongly that their new building should embrace modern design whilst remaining sensitive to its site. So they came up with a house that is part traditional timber frame cottage, part modern glass pavilion. Time: 48 min.....
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Tom and Judy wanted more than just a home for themselves and their two children. On a site of outstanding natural beauty in Buckinghamshire, they set out to build an ambitious house - a symphony of angles, glass walls and exposed steel, with a dramatic inverted roof. Tom made himself site manager and main contractor. He had no experience but he liked a challenge - and, after all, how difficult could it be? Time: 48 min 35 sec .....
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This week Kevin meets a couple who bought a ruin and moved to Italy in 1999, hoping to start work building their dream home in Tuscany. Since then they've spent all their time trying to get planning permission, but finally, after four years, they are about to start work. And it's an epic project: they have bought a derelict 1,000-year-old castle in the Tuscan hills. Now the couple face their biggest battle of all: rebuilding this massive ruin into a comfortable and luxurious five-bedroom home. Time: 46 min 50 sec. .....
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When lawyers Jeremy and Louise Brown walked into Upthorpe Farm in Gloucester, they couldn't believe their eyes. It was like stepping back in time. Apart from a few minor alterations, the Grade II listed 16th-century farmhouse had barely been touched for over 400 years and was completely unmodernised. There were original beams and doorways, original paint and plaster and a hay loft. Time: 1 hr 1 min 25 sec .....
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A very young Kevin McCloud visits Tim Cox and Julia Broack who are building a timber framed house for their big family on a Newhaven Clifftop. Time: 45 min 58 sec.....
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David and Greta loved their home, a modernist structure in Surrey that they had built themselves ... all » almost 40 years ago. It was filled with things they'd chosen over the years - design classics, mementoes, David's paintings. But that house was falling apart and had to come down. Meanwhile, they had lost their hearts to a German post-and-beam house, designed by architect Peter Huf and available as a customised kit. Time: 48 min 46 sec.....
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Home design software enables you to design your own house blueprints. Tim Carter of AsktheBuilder.com shows you what features you'll want when picking out house design software. The right software also allows you to design blueprints for home remodeling projects and even landscaping blueprints. Time: 1 min 49 sec.....
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Grand Designs - Glass Fronted House
