Specialist self and custom build mortgage broker Buildstore Mortgage Services has shared with the Self Build Portal the fact that lending for the sector is in great shape currently, with a wide selection of products available.
For anyone looking to build their own home, the first thing people want to find out is how much they can realistically borrow. According to Buildstore Mortgage Services, the average value of a completed self build property it arranged finance for last year was just over £600,000, with the typical client borrowing around half of the final value of the home.
For those whose aspirations are a little higher, BuildStore confirms that interest at the higher end of the self build market is continuing to grow and mortgage lenders are keen to tap into this demand.
Chris Martin, Head of Product Development and Underwriting at BuildStore, commented: “We are seeing more potential self builders looking for mortgages over £1 million to help them build their exciting forever home. We work very closely with lenders to develop products that reflect changing market needs and we have a number of mortgage deals available for larger loans.
Benefits of self building
At NaCSBA we know that building your own home has many benefits – with self builders securing a home where they want to live, in a property designed by them to meet their own specific needs and circumstances. But BuildStore confirms that self builders are also likely to build their new home significantly cheaper than buying a comparable home from a developer.
It also knows that financing a home to build to an individual specification is different to buying an established or new-build property, but there is plenty of help and guidance out there if you know where to look.
“Every self-build client and project is different and lenders are also becoming more flexible with who they will lend to – including how they look at the self-employed and contractors and how they view different construction types,” says Martin.
“Many self builders want to benefit from the shorter build times and better environmental credentials of modern methods of construction and there are many mortgage products available for this type of project.
“Self build is a growing area of the housing market and as it scales up we expect more lenders to enter the market and more options to open up for aspiring home builders – whether they want to borrow £300,000 or £1 million or more.”
