And it only cost them just over £250,000
A DIY couple with no construction experience built an entire house by watching YouTube tutorials – for a third of the market price.
Kenny Orellena, 41, and his partner Camille, 33, decided they needed more living space to start a family in London.
Taking out a loan was too expensive, so they used their savings to buy land in East Ham at an auction in 2017.
Using his experience as an architect, Kenny designed a three storey, three bedroom property and with Camille’s help began building their own home from scratch.
All in all the project took them four years to complete, costing them £252,000, and Kenny says it was “well worth it” as they now live their happily with their two sons.
Kenny, who moved to the UK from Spain in 2006, said: “Building our home was a personal challenge for me.
“I enjoyed learning the different trades needed and I would encourage other people to do the same.
“Although it was stressful and hard work at times, we saved ourselves hundreds of thousands of pounds.”
The couple originally lived in a flat in Shoreditch but decided if they wanted to have children, they’d have to move homes.
They couldn’t find anything affordable in London so they began to explore other options. After speaking to a developer at work, Kenny got the idea of buying land through an auction house and building their own home.
They eventually settled for a £42,000 plot in East Ham and used the rest of their savings to start the four year project.
Kenny said: “We had to get rid of rubble and rubbish on the land and get planning permission which took about eight to nine months.
“We started work in December 2017 and used our £90,000 savings to rent equipment and buy the materials we needed. “When that £90,000 disappeared we had to earn more money before we could carry on the work and so on and so on.
“We’d make the trip from Shoreditch to East Ham after work most days to build our home which was really hard work. “But we were determined to make it work as we’d invested everything we had into this project. It had to come off.”
Kenny and Camille’s home is a three storey property with a basement, ground floor and first floor.
The house has a steel frame and the external walls are made of timber which they built themselves.
The couple watched countless YouTube videos on how to lay bricks and build pillars so they’re level and safe, and learnt essential trades like plumbing and plastering.
Camille got pregnant in 2019 which meant Kenny had to continue work on the house alone and then covid brought things to a halt all together.
They finally moved into the house in December 2020, but it took another year for them to furnish it, decorate it and deal with snagging issues.
All in all their home, including the cost of the land, cost them £252,000 – around a third of what it would cost had they bought on the property market.
Kenny said: “Before the project I had architectural knowledge but not building knowledge, so it was a great to gain that as well as a beautiful home.
“The hardest part of the process was laying the foundations at the beginning and hiring all the equipment to lift the steels into place.
“It took four years because we were doing our day jobs at the same time as taking on this massive build.
Then covid happened which made things even longer. “Inside our home is approximately 85 sqm of space and all in all, including the land and all the furniture inside, we spent £252,000.
“That’s extremely low for the location we are in.
“It was a journey, but we did what we set out to do, and we now have a lovely environment to bring up our two boys.
“We couldn’t be happier.”
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