A useful new-home brief describes how you want to live, what the site permits and what the project can afford. Starting with a list of fashionable features can make the design expensive without resolving the household’s actual needs.
Describe everyday routines
List who will use the home, which activities need space and how those needs could change. Consider storage, working from home, visitors, circulation and access. Separate essential requirements from preferences so trade-offs can be made deliberately.
Investigate the site and approvals
Establish the information needed about boundaries, access, ground conditions, utilities and surrounding development. Check the planning position and identify the building control route with your professional team.
Government guidance on self-build and custom housebuilding explains the policy framework in England. Being interested in self-build does not establish that a particular plot can be developed as proposed.
Coordinate light, comfort and energy use
Ask the designer to assess orientation, shading, insulation, airtightness, heating and ventilation together. Larger areas of glazing are not automatically the best answer for every elevation or room. Review overheating, privacy and maintenance as well as the appearance.
Use the current Approved Documents with appropriate professional interpretation for applicable requirements. A collection of high-performing products is not, by itself, a coordinated building design.
Set an honest budget
Separate land, investigations, design, approvals, construction, connections and occupation costs. Identify unknown items and the investigations that could reduce uncertainty. Do not allocate the same reserve both to unresolved risks and optional upgrades.
Our budgeting method shows how to distinguish confirmed, estimated and unpriced costs. For a new build, adapt the headings with your cost adviser rather than copying the example amounts.
Design for use and maintenance
Check how services will be accessed, components replaced and external surfaces maintained. Review furniture layouts and storage before the plan is fixed. Consider outside space in relation to time, cost and upkeep rather than assuming it should include a pool or another major feature.
Finish with a written brief, a decision record and a list of unresolved issues. Update all three when the design changes so the team works towards the same priorities.
Revised and sources checked on 21 October 2026.