Cath+Jons Selfbuild

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Jonathan Gribble was a car enthusiast.  One day when looking through the car magazines in his newsagents, he realised that he had read them all.  His eyes caught a specialist self build magazine - “Build It” - and after a quick flick through, he decided to buy.   

The purchase was to change Jonathan’s life as within minutes of reading the magazine he decided he wanted to build his own home.  He confided his idea to his wife Catherine and both agreed it would be an exciting venture.  The Gribbles looked for many months for a suitable plot and on two occasions came close to buying a piece of land.  They had contacted Estate Agents and read the papers and were getting frustrated at the problems of finding something suitable when they saw an advert in the local paper.  The plot was in Shelf near Halifax and the next day the Gribbles peered over the wall at the plot that was for sale.  It seemed an excellent opportunity and they then viewed the plot with the Estate Agent and put in an offer straight away.  The offer was accepted and the Gribbles had bought themselves their land.

Jonathan Gribble – “We had to be quick off the mark in buying the land.  Speed was certainly of the essence and we were lucky to be in the right place at the right time.  After our offer had been accepted there were many others still trying to view and buy the plot.”

Jon and Cath had already spent time thinking about the style of house that they would build.  They had made sketches of the layout and took these to various Architects and Designers.  They chose a local Architectural Technician who seemed to grasp what they wanted and relayed their ideas onto the drawing board.  He also gave them a firm cost for his work.

The plans were passed and the Gribbles again sought out estimates from local builders.  The prices varied considerably and they chose builders whose work they had seen and who were helpful with ideas on how the project might proceed.  They also gave a firm price for their work, with the exception of the foundations, the cost of which could not be calculated accurately until the digging began.

As it happened there was an old tree close to the boundary and this meant deeper foundations were needed and the Gribbles had to swallow an extra £5,000 for the cost of the foundations.

  Jon and Cath were very focussed and deliberate.  They examined the costings of every aspect of the build carefully and stuck to their budget throughout.  They had sold their previous house and had certain funds of their own but they needed help with finance and turned to BuildStore and their Accelerator self build mortgage to assist them with the project.

  Jonathan Gribble – “We could afford the house, but we couldn’t pay for it.  That may sound odd, but we would have had problems with cash flow if we hadn’t found the Accelerator Mortgage.  The stage payments were made at the beginning of the stage which allowed us to meet our commitments fully as we went along.  Other lenders would not have met our needs and quite simply we couldn’t have done it without the help of the Accelerator mortgage.”

  Cath kept a diary of the ongoing costs and spent many hours visiting showrooms and suppliers to check on prices.  The only luxury the Gribbles allowed themselves was an antique bath which they bought at an auction.  Apart from that they monitored closely their finances and finished more or less within their budgetted costs.

  Cath Gribble – “I had known of the builders before and they were very good in recommending other trades to help us.  They got very good slaters for us and even supervised their work.  They recommended the electricians and plumbers and we were very happy with them and the standard of their work.”

  The house was finished within nine months and the Gribbles are now enjoying their new home.  The front of the house features a large and very attractive arched window which makes the whole feel of the house bright and cheerful.  The large entrance hall doubles as a dining room when Jon and Cath and their two young children entertain.  The ground floor also features a spacious lounge with stone fireplace and the kitchen has slate worktops bought and adapted by Jonathan on one of his sojourns around the second hand dealers.  Jon also has a small office room as he works from home and there is a downstairs loo and access to the garage where Jon’s other project, an old sports car, lives.

  The first floor level reached up an attractive open staircase has Master Bedroom with bathroom ensuite, three other bedrooms and a family bathroom.  The Gribbles have a good sized garden in which they eventually intend to include decking from the patio doors in their lounge.

  Jonathan Gribble –“We were really lucky with our tradesmen.  However we did do our homework and were fairly strict about our costs.  We now have a great home for the family.  We are grateful to the Accelerator Mortgage for helping with the finance without which we wouldn’t be here.  Would I do it again ? – Yes but maybe not for another four years or so.”