Build Your Own Home

Tony Booth is an experienced estate-agent, letting-agent and property developer who has overseen the rebuilding and refurbishment of his own portfolio of investment property over many years. He was the founding editor of 'The LETter' and has written two books on property investment and management. He is based in Manchester. Mike Dyson is an experienced architect of over 20 years, who has designed and supervised a variety of building projects with contract values of up to [pound]18 million. He has considerable practical insight into the process of building your own home, having recently built his own dream house in a wooded valley in West Yorkshire. He is based in Todmorden, near Manchester.

Part 1: Before You Begin; 1. Why do it?; 2. Personal qualities; 3. Living arrangements; 4. Finding suitable land; 5. Assessing the site; 6. Buying the site; 7. The house design; 8. Planning permission; 9. Building regulations; Part 2: Let's Get Started; 10. Personal involvement; 11. Preparing the site; 12. The substructure; 13. Constructing the shell; 14. The roof; Part 3: Internal Works; (The Fun Part); 15. Major features; 16. The floors; 17. The 1st 'fix'; 18. The wet trades; 19. The 2nd 'fix'; 20. Painting and decorating; Part 4: Completion & External Aspects; 21. Completion notice; 22. Beyond the threshold; 23. Time for contemplation