How Much Does it Cost to Build a House in Scotland in 2024?

‘How much does it cost to build your own house in Scotland?'

This is the number one question the Coldwells Build team are asked, and as you might guess, it’s not easy to give a simple answer.

The truth is, the average cost of a custom home can be almost anything. We build family homes for a few hundred thousand pounds, to larger properties that are in the millions. There are so many variables that impact cost, that it’s impossible to create a blueprint which will apply to every project. Each one has different construction methods, fixtures, fittings and materials.

So, the answer to 'how much does it cost to build a house?' really depends on your available budget. It's why we believe you should always discuss your budget with your builder early, to ensure your home is designed at a price that’s comfortable for you.

The first step is deciding on your budget and how much you can reasonably afford to spend on your custom home. To work this out, you need to consider the following:

• Your total savings
• Money from the sale of your home (if required)
• Funding available through self-build mortgages (if required). An advisor will let you know the amount you can borrow.
  

Add these together and you’ll have your budget. From here, there will be two initial expenses.

The first expense is finding and buying the right plot of land. You can get an idea of land costs in your area with a bit of research and by speaking to local estate agents. 

Concentrate on just a few areas where you would like to put down roots. The wider the radius you draw, the more work you'll have visiting sites, meeting landowners and making decisions. Our blog, 8 Ways to Find Plots for Sale in Scotland will help you focus your efforts effectively. 

You'll also need to factor in legal fees and taxes. In some cases, extra costs might arise due to unforeseen conditions on your land. These might include sloping ground, structural or poor ground conditions and contamination, all of which will need to be taken into account.

At this stage, we would also recommend setting aside part of your budget to cover the costs of hiring professionals such as a site surveyor, architect, structural engineer and quantity surveyor.

Once you know your professional and plot costs, subtract these from your overall budget and you’re left with your construction budget, which is the amount you can spend to build your home.

We would also advise leaving some cushion for unexpected costs during the building process. A contingency fund of 10% is a good idea.

The cost of building a new house in Scotland in 2024 hinges on many factors, from its size, construction type, the complexity of the design and quality of materials used. We've highlighted some of the key factors below.

In 2023 Coldwells Build completed a two-storey custom house build project on a greenfield site in rural Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The house was built using a prefabricated timber frame kit. Its exterior was finished with render, timber cladding and sheet metal roofing. The house was finished to a standard spec throughout and included:

• 4 bedrooms
• 4 bathrooms
• Open plan kitchen, dining and living room
• Utility room
• Master bedroom balcony

Dwelling size: 272 m²
Construction cost = £547,981
Cost per m² = £2014

The cost guide above does not include kitchen, sanitaryware, fitted joinery and appliances. These were sourced and supplied by the client. The price does not include external landscaping, garages or driveways.

Our clients also paid additional costs for professionals such as a site surveyor, architect, structural engineer and quantity surveyor.

As principal contractors, Coldwells Build were accountable for the project management, driving and coordinating the entire construction process. This meant our clients benefitted from our established links with trusted suppliers and professional tradespeople.

For new builds, VAT is zero-rated, which means VAT registered builders or subcontractors must zero-rate their work and not charge VAT.

Although the builder and subcontractors will have to pay VAT when they purchase materials, they can claim that back at the end of each month and they cannot pass it onto the client.

If you're doing a self build project, you will have to pay VAT at full rate for the purchase of any materials. However, this is can be reclaimed at the end of the project under HMRC’s DIY Housebuilder’s Scheme.

Over the past few years, the combined impact of COVID-19, the war in Ukraine and Brexit have driven up the prices of materials, energy and labour. Some of these costs are predicted to rise again in 2024. It may leave you wondering, 'Is now the right time to build?

Don’t wait. Now is the time to build your own home and it will put you a step ahead of what’s to come. The benefit to building sooner is that with rising prices, your home will likely be worth more when finished than what you paid, providing immediate equity.

Average house costs for existing properties in Scotland continue to rise and are forecast to be even higher by 2026. 

Construction labour costs are increasing, driven by a national skills shortage. The Federation of Master Builders reported 39% of UK builders struggled to hire joiners/carpenters and 34% struggled to hire bricklayers in 2023. This is expected to worsen in the coming years, with reduced immigration and an ageing workforce. 71% of builders have put up their prices for work as a result.

So, looking ahead:

Labour price rises + high material costs + house price rises = the sooner you’re able to decide that a house build project is the right choice for you, the less investment you will have to make.

The design stage can take up to 12 months (sometimes longer) to get the custom home you want. Trying to time the market for lower prices is a false economy. The sooner you build your new home, the sooner you have built-in equity.

Once you know your construction budget, it’s crucial your home is designed with that figure in mind.

It’s easy to get carried away with ambitious design concepts, but when the time comes to approach builders for quotes, you may discover the construction costs are beyond what you want to spend or can reasonably afford. After designing your dream home, this can be a devastating emotional, financial and timeline setback.

To avoid this, we recommend you work with an architect who has a track record of collaborating with builders in the design phase to provide cost visibility from the start.

This simple but fundamental difference saves money and time by transforming the relationship between builders and architects into an alliance which fosters not only creative collaboration, but most importantly, budget control.

The architect manages the creative design, and the builder and architect work together on construction science and costs. When construction costs are monitored and tracked in the design phase, the risk of budget blowouts decreases.

It’s also an opportunity to identify any construction related challenges early on. With practical input from the builder, potential issues can be ‘designed out’ before leaving the architect’s desk, saving time on rework at a later (and more costly) stage.

Building your own home could potentially yield significant returns. A well-considered project could potentially net you a profit of 25-30% when (or if) you come to sell in the short term, and of course much more over a longer period of time.

Coldwells Build manages a limited number of custom home projects each year, so our clients are guaranteed the highest level of quality. If you have a deadline in mind, start the discussion far in advance.

Take advantage of our willingness to share knowledge about the building process and schedule a strategy conversation today.