Most people picture a new house going up in a few months, but the reality from first sketch to moving day usually spans well over a year. Here is an honest breakdown of each stage, based on how projects actually run on sites around Budleigh Salterton and the wider East Devon coast.
For a standard detached family home, expect around 10 to 16 months of actual building work once you are out of the ground. A modest bungalow can come in nearer 8 to 10 months, while a large or architecturally complex house, or one on a difficult sloping plot, can push past 18 months.
That figure is the construction phase only. The full journey, including design and planning, commonly runs 18 to 30 months from your first meeting with an architect to collecting the keys.
The part homeowners underestimate most is everything before groundworks. Design, structural calculations and a planning application take time, and in East Devon a good portion of land sits within the East Devon AONB or conservation areas, which adds scrutiny and often consultation conditions.
A straightforward householder or full planning decision is targeted at 8 weeks, but larger or sensitive schemes frequently run to several months. Building Regulations drawings, discharging pre-commencement conditions and lining up a builder all add further weeks.
Once on site, the sequence is fairly predictable, but the length of each stage depends heavily on ground conditions and weather. Devon's clay and the high water table near the coast can mean deeper foundations or a piled solution, which adds both cost and time at the very start.
Below is a realistic spread for a typical two-storey house. Stages overlap in practice, so the totals are not simply added.
Most slipped timescales are not down to slow building. They come from late material decisions, design changes mid-build, and waiting on utility connections, where South West Water and the electricity network operator can take many weeks to schedule.
Winter weather on an exposed coastal plot also matters. Heavy rain stalls groundworks and external rendering, so starting foundations in late autumn often means a slower opening few months. Planning the programme so the house is weathertight before the worst weather makes a real difference.
Yes, with a timber frame or modern method of construction the weathertight shell can go up far quicker, sometimes shaving a month or two off the early stages. The fit-out and finishing trades still take similar time, so the overall saving is real but modest.
It can, mainly at the planning stage, as designs may need to respect local materials, scale and landscape character. Once permission is granted and conditions are discharged, the construction programme itself is much the same as anywhere else.
Work backwards and allow at least 18 months, and ideally two years, before your target. That buffer covers design, planning and the inevitable lead times on bespoke items like windows, kitchens and roof materials.
Tell us about your project. Paul personally reviews every enquiry and replies within the working day.