Hi mmt,

Unfortunately the ‘design-first-buy-plot-later’ approach very rarely works out. I’m a firm believer that the nature of the land (shape, orientation, slope, etc) should always inform your final house design; otherwise you won’t be maximising the potential of the plot. On top of that, each plot will face design pressures in terms of what the local authority will allow (ie to fit in with the pattern of nearby housing) while there will also be restrictions imposed by things like Tree Preservation Orders.

You mention you have two years to find the perfect plot. That’s a decent amount of time, but 12-24 months for the land hunt is pretty much the average for self builders… and not all of them find the ‘ideal’ site, with most compromising on something along the way. So the chances of finding a plot that will accept a finished house design are very small. With that in mind, spending money on professional drawings now could well hinder rather than help your project.

A better way to approach things might be to have a ‘wishlist’ of what your ideal plot would provide; eg location, transport links, orientation, amount of land, size of house it would support, style of nearby housing, etc. All of these things – and more – will have an impact on what you can build. Check out https://www.self-build.co.uk/designing-your-home for more on the design process.

None of this is to say that you can’t speak to a few architects early on in the process – some may even be able to help you secure a plot that could support your needs, for example.

Best of luck!

Chris Bates, Deputy Editor & Online Editor, Build It magazine