An eco-home in Wales was the biggest ever budget-breaker for popular TV show Grand Designs, it has been revealed.
Over three quarters of all the projects featured on the UK version of popular Channel 4 home show went over budget, but a particular property in Wales exceeded its cost estimate by a massive 5,300%, according to new analysis. The research revealed that only 16% of the 212 projects featured on the beloved TV show managed to stay perfectly within budget, and only 4% ended up costing less than originally planned.
The most over-budget Grand Designs build ever was the Low Impact House', in Pembrokeshire, which featured in Season 17 of the show, and had an original budget of just £500. However, it ended up costing its owners 5,300% more than the initial estimate budget, coming out at £27k. Many – including the show’s host Kevin McCloud – argued that it was a very unrealistic house-building budget to begin with.
The story of the eco-home was brought to us by Simon and Jasmine Dale, who hand-built an ecological home in Pembrokeshire as part of a growing community of self-sufficient homeowners. The programme captivated viewers with the couple’s abundant creativity, inventiveness and pure commitment to how they had always envisaged they would live - in an eco-friendly self-build house surrounded by working land to support them including generating their own power.
The couple began their Grand Designs project in earnest in 2013 but the programme about the development of their nine acre smallholding didn't air until 2016, such was the enormity of the task ahead. With only £500 in the bank, Simon and Jasmine were determined to achieve their goal of being self-sufficient within five years. The home itself took six years to build.
Outside, the couple were also working hard to continue to develop the land into a sustainable income source plus contribute, in partnership with their neighbours, to the construction of natural power sources as part of the Lammas eco-community. As the programme aired on Channel 4 in 2015, the couple had achieved the ambition of constructing and living in a three bedroom family home made predominantly of reclaimed materials, including glass, timber, clom, clay and even sheep's wool as insulation.
But on New Year's Day in 2018 disaster struck. Fire broke out and the home was damaged beyond repair. Jasmine previously said: "We are still in shock. We left the day of the fire. We didn't go back to the site until June. Our friends cleared the site of all the debris and came back at key points such as pruning in the garden and the neighbours looked after the sheep.
"Our friends and neighbours were so supportive, they even set up a Justgiving page for us, and somebody we didn't even know offered their property in Tenby for us to live in temporarily straight after the fire." You can read more about the property here.
How do so many developments end up going over budget?
According to the research by Been Let Down's Professional Negligence team, many of the projects which ended up massively exceeding their initial cost estimates experienced issues or delays during the construction process, while sometimes the additional spend was down to things such as incorrect structural surveys, groundworks issues or experienced ‘DIY’ project management. However, the majority simply miscalculated the total costs at planning stage.
Top five most over-budget builds
1. 'Low Impact House', Season 17 (+5,300% over budget)
The project began with Simon and Jasmine Dale setting out to hand-build an ecological home with just £500 in the bank. The couple set out to make a home that would allow them to be self-sufficient within five years – complex planning requirements due to the nature of the project meant the house took six years to build – for a final total of £27,000, a massive 5,300% over the initial starting sum.
After the episode aired, the home sadly burned to the ground in a fire on New Year’s Day, with the couple setting out to rebuild.
2. The 16 th Century Farmhouse, Season 5 (+328% over budget)
Following closely in second place is the 16 th Century Farmhouse featured on Season 5, which came in more than 300% over its original budget owing to structural problems that weren’t identified in the initial structural survey. The final build ended up costing around £300,000 - way more than the £70,000 originally forecast.
3. Huxham, Devon, Season 22 (+199% over budget)
The most expensive project amongst the top five most over-budget builds – Season 22’s visit to Huxham – came in almost 200% over budget with a final total spend of £2.5m. The build was complicated by structural issues owing to a unique design, as well as delays caused by Brexit and Covid-19.
4. The Bath Kit House, Season 8 (+ 181% over budget)
This ambitious build, budgeted at £675,000, ended up costing over £1.9m - a huge 181% over what had been set aside for the project. The owners faced a considerable number of issues during the build, including issues with groundworks and the neighbour’s wall collapsing onto the site.
5. The Seaside House, Season 15 (+ 158% over budget)
Due to another big budget miscalculation at planning stage, this impressive modern house ended up costing owners Bram Vis and his wife Lisa a grand total of £2.2m - way over their initial £850,000 budget.
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