Are shell homes halfway houses to self build?

Around a third of people in the UK would love to build their own home, according to a 2020 survey, but for numerous reasons only seven per cent of us actually do it.

For every would-be selfbuilder, however, there are dozens of home buyers who find it less daunting to take the ‘doer-upper’ route. In other words, buy a habitable wreck and renovate it to their own taste.

The main advantages are that a run-down property is likely to be noticeably cheaper than one in good condition; you can do the work in stages, as and when you can afford to; you can live on site, if uncomfortably; and you can acquire an attractive period property with the benefits of a modern, energy-efficient home.

The disadvantages are that you are likely to be living on a building site for a lot longer than you anticipate; old houses have secrets, so your budget is likely to balloon as they are revealed; meeting the insulation and airtightness requirements of the heat pump heating systems the government want us to use is extremely taxing for many single-leaf period properties; and you will be paying VAT on the materials and most of the services you use.

There is, however, a way to obtain a new modern home on a similar basis, still fitting out the interior as you wish but without paying VAT in the process. It’s known as a ‘shell’ home.

Shell homes are new builds, which from the outside look complete but inside are largely empty spaces with only structural walls in place. Walls, ceilings, floors and staircases will be unfinished. Services are likely to reach no further than the front door.

Shell homes are well-established in Europe and the US, as well as China and Egypt. Selfbuilders, of course, can always commission their own from a contractor or kit supplier, but a new breed of developers have seen shells as filling a gap in the market. They promise not only more affordable homes but an opportunity to provide much greater choice as well as higher standards of design and construction than conventional developments.

Among them is London-based Unboxed Homes, a custom developer who recently completed their first shells. A terrace of five, four-storey houses in Peckham, south London, all in striking contemporary designs with roof terraces and clever use of the internal space on a tight plot.

Buyers are offered three stages of completion: Raw, Warm and Finished. “Raw,” explains managing director Gus Zogolovitch, “is pretty much as stripped back as you can make it.” That is, no kitchen, bathroom, internal partitions or doors, unfinished walls and ceilings and only a soil stack and heating and ventilation ductwork fitted. The shell, however, is watertight, airtight, sound-proofed and highly insulated.

Fit-out

‘Warm’ resembles first-fix, with wiring and pipework in place, walls and ceilings covered and skim plastered. ‘Finished’ is the standard developer’s model.

Warm was priced at 10 per cent off the finished price, and Raw 15 to 20 per cent. At the time of writing four of the five sold were Raw.

Unboxed offer introductions to a contractor and architect to fit out the homes, but the buyers are free to hire their own, use subcontractors or simply do it themselves.

Unboxed Homes’ next venture takes the concept a stage further with a 12- home custom-build site in rural Essex. Buyers can pick from three different contemporary designs, select the size and layout and the fit-out from a range of fixed-price options or opt for a shell.

Gus Zogolovitch believes shell homes could easily become a bigger part of the housing market, particularly in urban apartments, a view shared by another developer, Goldcrest Custom Homes, who are about to complete the capital’s first shell apartment block, also in south London.

Nine flats over three storeys range in size from 77 to 97 square metres, empty inside but for structural walls, though a design and fit-out package is also available.

According to chairman and chief executive Michael Collins, Goldcrest’s intention is to provide affordable, welldesigned homes that eliminate all the complaints flat dwellers usually make. These include high service charges, poor managing agents and tiny balconies.

The shell flats have 2,000-year leases with a later option to buy the freehold, the building is managed by a residentsowned company and balconies are large enough for a couple to dine outside comfortably. Michael Collins predicts shell apartments will become 10 to 15 per cent of all new builds, especially in London.

But there’s another model to the concept, where it’s combined with co-housing self builds. Bristol-based Bright Green Futures sources and sells land for highly energy-efficient, affordable community self builds, providing planning and design expertise as well as their own contractor and abundant hands-on support.

Their latest project, Water Lilies, an eco development some five miles north-east of central Bristol, consists of 33 homes, including 21 shells, which the buyers will fit out themselves.