Ever thought about building your dream home?
Most people in the UK do! It is a great way to:
- Get exactly what you want.
- Get a lot more for your money.
- Own a truly sustainable home which is warm, light and affordable.
- Have a home of high quality and long-lasting value.
- Do something exciting, rewarding and experience a real sense of achievement.
Is it scary?
Conventional self-building can seem scary. Where to start? What to do when something goes wrong? Where to find the information?
The Bright Green Futures’ approach means that self-building becomes much easier. If you don’t quite know where to start, we provide training and support for you. In a Bright Green Futures community: you will be part of a group of people all in the same boat, giving each other advice and recommending trades people, materials, products and merchants. You can even team up for bulk purchases and save even more money!
Flexibility
At Bright Green Futures we have a flexible approach to self-building. You can choose to build the whole home yourself, ask us to build one for you, or ask us to build the shell and you complete the inside. We are here to support you in designing an imaginative and sensitive home.
Do I really get more for my money?
Building your own home is a superb way to make your money go further. By cutting out the middleman (private or volume developer) one makes considerable savings, typically 30% or more if you do some of the work yourself. Bright Green Futures can also sell to you directly saving estate agent fees. As we are a social enterprise driven by our vision to support eco self-build communities rather than profit, we pass on as many saving as possible to you. In addition, there are tax savings you which further support self-build:
- Building your own home is Capital Gains Tax free.
- Building materials are free of VAT.
- Plot sales price is likely to be below the stamp duty threshold.
- Self-build is exempt from the community infrastructure levy.
Eco-friendly
83% of UK residents would like to live in a sustainable housing development (Source: Ipsos MORI), but less than 1% of homes sold display any significant sustainability features. This is quite different to other products you buy, such as food or clothes, where you have a wide range of organic, free range, or fair trade options. Building your home yourself (or buying one from Bright Green Futures or another eco-developer) is one of the most significant contributions you can make towards a clean, safe planet.
People-friendly
There are many people working in the construction industry who are looking for meaning in their working lives. Through building an innovative, eco-friendly home, you can attract the best talent from the industry to work on your home. Being part of a wider community of self-build and Bright Green Futures-constructed homes means that workers will make a particular effort, because they believe in what they are doing and because they may like to continue to work on the same site for another self-builder, and/or you become friends in the process.