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Plan ahead for the size and cost of construction
Finish materials such as cement, paint and stones should be considered in your budget. Having architectural designs (right) guides builders to construct your desired home.
As you begin to plan your new home, you should realise that the first step is to calculate a figure that you feel is affordable for you. You should include the cost of the land, architectural designs, landscaping, building materials (interior and exterior), and any other options that you know you will need before the completion of the project and in terms of financing (where will the funds be coming from?).
Your plans may start out wishful, but you will need to keep in mind the additions and modifications that you will certainly make, will create an issue with the affordability of your new home. When you determine your budget, you will be able to better determine what is affordable for the size and features of your home.
The size will be the most important factor in building the home. The average cost per square metre for doing a residential house is at about Shs600,000 ($300) per square metre and this is the cost of constructing just the shell of your house that will include labour, materials and roofing.
It would then be easier to determine what your overall cost would be. But we know that as you get to do the finishes, the cost will double.
Finishes vary in cost because of the quality and where you are purchasing from and in what quantities. On average, the finishes would cost Shs600,000 ($300) per square metre. And this figure will cater for the wall finishes and fixtures. Generally, the square area of your building plans multiply by Shs600,000 estimate and you will know your general cost. But this figure will not have put into consideration your boundary wall and landscaping but this is a good starting point.
If the total cost of the architectural plans has gone way over your budget, you may have to consider choosing a new design or scaling down the one you have. If you are just slightly over budget, you may be able to adjust options and finishing touches to make sure your budget will be met.
Calculating your budget is a difficult and time consuming step, but one you must do first. It would be much more disappointing to skip this step and find that you are unable to finish your new dream home.
The other alternative is to hire a quantity surveyor to work closely with your architect. The architectural plans are done and then the quantity surveyor does the estimates. If it’s beyond your budget it is time to be torn down. I know that many people would rather they didn’t know this cost but this is where the headaches in construction begin, better you know.
If you intend to get financing from a financial institution, there is definitely no way you will avoid a quantity surveyor because your bank will always want to know how much your house will cost so make sure your architect has prepared all the drawings, and all construction details (which could be like a 30 page A3 booklet of drawings for say a three bed-roomed house). There is nothing as taking on a mortgage and it isn’t enough to cover the cost of the house you are in debt and the house isn’t complete as well.
Write down a list of your priorities for the room you will need. Think of how many bedrooms and bathrooms your family will require now or in the future. Do you want a family room or a living room, or both? Have you thought of any extra areas in the home such as home office, study, entertainment or play rooms, and so on? How big will the garage be and will it be part of the home or detached, or should you consider a carport. All of these thoughts will have different budget adjustments depending on the features, size of these rooms.
If you have done all of the above and you realise that you are not going to be able to have it all in the budget you set, consider options to build the home now and expand later. You may want to add a lower cost verandah or second floor area that is suitable to build or add to later for the extra rooms you would like to have.
Knowing in advance that you plan to expand, these areas can be built with foundation and accessibility options to ease the additional cost during expansion. There are also many finishing touches you can consider holding off until your budget allows.
