Don’t feel like forking out thousands for a home build that might never see the light of day? Some Aussies are taking matters into their own hands by doing away with builders and picking up the tools to get the job done.
It’s no secret that the recent wave of construction company collapses has shaken the nation’s faith in home builders to deliver on their housing dreams after recent sector insolvency leaving hundreds of buyers thousands of dollars in debt with half-finished homes.
And as material costs and labour shortages consistently test new all-time highs, recent consumer research from global data, analytics and technology company Equifax revealed that nearly half (47 per cent) of Aussies looking to build property in the next five years don’t think their builders will be around to see their projects through.
But with the nation’s notoriously low housing supply only set to drive home prices even higher in the coming years, builders are seemingly the only avenue Aussies have to get onto the property ladder without forking out millions for a run-down two-bedroom on Sydney’s south side – or so we thought.
Build-it sat down with the CEO and owner of Imagine Kit Homes, Keith Richardson, to discuss a new trend sweeping the country where budding buyers are taking on the role of the builder and jumping on the tools themselves to put together modular kit homes.
According to Richardson, these certified purpose-built kits can be completed for a fraction of the cost of a traditional build and regularly result in a higher standard than what you would see from a project home – as long as the owner puts in the time.
“We’ve got over 700 plans on our website. Any of those plans can be selected and modified, so we can chop and change, or we can start from scratch,” he told Build-it.
“We’ll design that house to suit exactly what the client is after.
“You go to some of these project build homes and they’re not finished to a great standard. When you’re the owner builder, you certainly have that control and the house if built to whatever standard you want.”
Watch the full interview above.
