‘We put everything on the line for this’: Couple who poured life-savings into building their dream home reveal they went £135,000 over budget due to Brexit delays and an archaeological discovery on their plot
- Sam and Kevin wanted to build their dream home in Somerset for £450,000
- Final project cost £585,000 and came with ’emotional and physical’ price
- Read more: No ordinary garden shed! Inside this plain shack lies luxurious home
A couple who had dreamed of building their own home have revealed how they went £135,000 over their budget due to Brexit delays and an archeological discovery on their plot.
Kevin and Sam, from Somerset, appeared on the latest episode of Channel 5’s Build Your Dream Home in the Country last night.
The couple, who work as an air ambulance pilot and NHS nurse, decided to pour all their life savings into a dream house – having spent decades living on military bases and also being based in the Middle East for a time.
After buying the plot in the village of Castle Cary for £250,000, the pair were forced to increase their £450,000 building budget by £50,000 in 2021 – caused by the increase in the price of materials caused by Brexit and Covid-19.
Complicating matters further, the build was also delayed when a team of archeologists found artefacts dating back to 4,000 BC on the plot.
Air ambulance pilot Kevin and NHS nurse Sam, from Somerset, explained on Channel 5’s Build Your Dream Home in the Country last night that they had planned to build their own home on a budget of £450,000, but that their budget soon rose to £500,000, and the build eventually ended up costing £585,000
As a result of the delays, Kevin – who was project managing – had to take on more work around the building site to curb the increase.
In total, the pair ended up paying £585,000 on the build – which was £135,000 over their original budget – and moved into the unfinished house last November.
Although Kevin and Sam admitted there were times where they regretted taking on the project, they said they were delighted with the final results – and impressed viewers agreed it was beautiful.
Sam met Kevin when she was a student nurse and he was a sub-lieutenant in the Royal Navy.
Eventually, the couple married and had two children, but never got to settle in a permanent home, due to Kevin’s job as a pilot, which saw them live in a succession of military bases.
After he left the Navy, Kevin took a job as a pilot in Oman, where the family stayed for several years, but they yearned for a British permanent home.
‘After many years and many different houses, we have a fairly exhaustive list of what we’d like to have in the house,’ Kevin told the show.
The family moved to Castle Cary, where the father-of-two now works as a pilot for the Air Ambulance Service, and Sam got a job in the local GP surgery.
The parents-of-two said they threw everything at the build, ‘financially’ and ’emotionally’ and both admitted the construction period was a ‘strain’
The couple’s living space encompassed the kitchen and a smaller TV space for the family to regroup
Sam and Kevin went for bold colour, including dark green for the living-room, after years of living in Magnolia accommodations
During this time, the couple came across a plot on the edge of town, which they bought for £250,000 in 2020.
What’s more, the couple also built the property with their children – Elizabeth, 22, and Tim, 20, in mind.
‘We definitely respect out parents for doing this. If anyone’s going to be able to pull it off it’s mum and dad, really,’ Tim said.
‘I think mum’s been dreaming of a Somerset country house since we moved to Oman, so it’s been a long time coming,’ Elizabeth added.
The couple planned to build two units inspired by the style of traditional barns, linked with a curved one-story section in the middle, with a grass roof.
The children would stay in one of the units, each having their room, while Sam and Kevin’s bedroom would be on the other side of the house.
The couple sold two rental properties they owned and poured all their savings into the project, which they hoped to finish within six to nine months, with an overall budget of £450,000 for the build.
However, their budget increased even before they were able to break ground.
The couple’s en-suite bathroom was stunning. Sam and Kevin kept a natural feel throughout with stone floors
The couple’s bedroom came with beautiful double-height vaulted ceilling opening up to the rest of their plot
Elizabeth, 22, painted her room white and orange as she enjoyed being able to put some personality on her house’s walls for the first time in her life after decades spent in rentals
‘We started at £450,000 with a 10 per cent contingency, I think realistically, that contingency is already gone, I think £500,000 we would say is out build estimate,’ Kevin told presenter Mark Millar.
The family were also paying £1,200 per month to rent a property nearby.
‘I hope that it’s as much as it’s going to go up, because were at the top end of when we started planning,’ he added.
The family eventually started building in December 2021, with an excited Kevin noting he was like ‘a kid ion a sweet shop.’
One of the conditions of the couple’s planning permission agreement was that they had to have archeologists on site, making sure there were no bones or traces of old settlements in the ground.
Kevin had to pay £200 a day to have the team on site, and would need to pay more if they made any significant discoveries.
So the family were less than thrilled when the archeologists came across old flint artefacts dating back to 3,000 to 5,000 years BC, as well as medieval potting fragments on the plot.
Sam and Kevin had to fork out another £6,000 for further excavation work, which considerably delayed their build and made a dent in their already tight budget.
The couple’s master bedroom was a peaceful space that faced the garden through large double height windows
The family wanted their multi-generational home to be linked with a living space where they could cook and entertain
‘Everything that asks for more money causes me a headache,’ Kevin admitted.
‘Budgets have gone through the roof so trying to find the materials at the right price, that’s where the challenge is,’ he added.
‘You’re quite frazzled, really, aren’t you,’ Sam told him.
The mother-of-two told Mark: ‘We’re always worried about making an expensive mistake. We’re not builders, this is all new to us.
‘At this moment can I say that I’m enjoying it? Absolutely not. For me, I can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.
‘And sadly, you make some savings and you’re really happy with that, and then the next build comes in and it’s £2,000, £3,000, £4000 more than was anticipated. But then that means that I just do more shifts,’ she added.
Sam and Kevin went for a bold blue kitchen with copper fixting and industrial lighting, with a large central island
The kitchen and living-room space are lined with windows that give stunning views of Somerset
The build was taking a toll on Kevin as well, as he struggled to juggle his full-time job with project managing the build.
‘Financially ands emotionally we’re putting every everything on the line to achieve this final home,’ he told Mark.
The couple spent every waking moment they were not working planning for the build.
By June 2022, the house build could get finally restart and the couple were once again full of hope and enthusiasm.
‘This is our forever home and I’m so excited for us now to see the first part of where we’re going to be living,’ Kevin said.
‘We talked about it for so long and finally we’re here,’ Sam said, tearing up. ‘Life has been on hold to do this and Covid, working in the NHS and all the rest of it and I think “oh, finally we’re here”,’ she said.
‘It’s been a dream for so long and finally it’s happening, so good day today,’ she said.
By the time the structure of the build, made of oak and cheaper wood, was complete, the family had already used £300,000 out of their £500,000 overall budget.
This meant that Kevin had to take on some of the jobs on site, with the help of his son Tim.
‘Finances have determined that any low skill jobs that I can do I will do, rather than pay someone else to do it,’ Kevin said.
In August 2022, the month when he had initially hoped to complete the house and move in, Kevin admitted he had been ‘naïve’ about how complex building the house would be.
The family pet a small TV space at the opposite end of the kitchen and next to their dining-room
While the timber frame house was finished by December 2022, the family still has some landscaping to do
‘I’m having to be ultra meticulous in the planning of the finances because it’s going to be very close at the end,’ he told Mark.
‘We are so exhausted, we’re working very hard doing a lot of the work ourselves. It’s saving me £700 a day and I can’t afford to be wasting that sort of money everyday,’ he added.
The father-of-two went on: ‘No matter how prepared you think you are, it’s probably going to be harder work that you think it’s going to be.’
Eventually, Kevin had to rely on the help of a handyman called Ollie to take on more responsibilities around the build.
‘Money is always a challenge […] It was battering me down. I thought I could be working and project managing, but you just can’t do it,’ he admitted.
The build was taking a toll on Sam as well, who said: ‘We knew it was going to be hard work, but it’s the mental energy as well,’ she said.
Viewers were impressed with the finished look of the house, however, some noted that it wasn’t good that Kevin, an air ambulance pilot, complained that building his home was exhausting
‘The stress is just… We’re at capacity every single day. I just don’t know what we did with all our time before if I’m honest,’ she added.
The family had to move into the house while it was not finished in November 2022.
At this point, Kevin told Mark he knew he was going to have to go a further £80,000 above budget in order to finish the build of the house.
‘It has been very hard. I’m totally wrapped up in the financial pressure,’ the father-of-two told Mark.
Kevin admitted he would tell people not to try and build their own house themselves, adding: ‘I can’t see past the emotion and the strain of it.’
Eventually, Mark made his final visit to Sam and Kevin last December, to see the final build.
The home was finished, however, the couple still had to complete the landscaping of the garden.
Mark loved how natural the new build was, and noted it looked like it had always been there in Somerset
Mark noted that the choice of the oak frame and stones made the brand new home feel like it had always been part of the Somerset landscape.
He was charmed by the natural feels of the apparent wooden beams lining the living-room and kitchen’s ceilling.
‘So gorgeous, the building is so contemporary and then you dropped this organic timber it pulls it all together’ he told the couple.
The couple also went with bold and deep blue and green colours for their rooms, after years of living in flats with magnolia-painted walls.
Sam and Kevin’s bedroom came with stunning vaulted double height room to enjoy the views and its own en-suite and study.
In order to achieve their home, Kevin admitted the family ended up paying £585,000 instead of the £500,000 they had estimated before the works started.
‘I think we’ve done okay,’ he said, admitting that his hard work had been ‘worth it.’
‘We’ve had to throw everything at it financially, and emotionally and physically. We need to sleep for about six months,’ the father-of-two added.
In spite of the strain of the build, the couple couldn’t wait to get settled into their new home.
‘You’ve done the most amazing job and I’m proud of you,’ Mark told the couple.
Viewers were impressed with the finished look of the house, however, some worried that the build may have taken too much of a physical toll on Kevin.
‘This guys flies helicopters fort a living whist exhausted from building his house. Not good,’ one said.
‘Fabulous home, worth all the hard work. I would love a re-visit to see the gardens finished,’ one wrote.
‘Incredible home on tonight, nice family too. NHS nurse and Helimed/RAF pilot, thank you for your service. I love wood and that oak frame build was done to absolute perfection. They made the difficult look effortless. The interior was beautiful too,’ one person raved.
Build Your Dream Home in the Country airs on Thursdays on Channel 5.
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