Home / Cost guides / What changes the cost of building a house in Cheshire?
What changes the cost of building a house in Cheshire?
In Cheshire, the cost of building a house depends on the plot, the specification, the services and the permissions, not on a single rate you can multiply by floor area. This page does not print a build price, and it sets out the decisions that move a written tender and the taxes and approvals beside it.
Last reviewed:No single price per square metre for building a house
People ask what it takes to build a house because they want one number. In Cheshire that number is a tender for a specification on a plot. No such tender is printed. Multiplying a borrowed rate by a floor area would invent a figure. That is not done.
The first readers are in Crewe, Nantwich and Sandbach. A plot on the edge of Nantwich and an infill site in Crewe are both "a house" only until you see the ground, the access and the planning conditions. Builders price what is drawn.
Anyone in the UK can post or register.
Planning permission for something that is not there yet
Citizens Advice says you usually need planning permission if you are building something new, and it uses an annexe as one example of "something new" [S1]. A dwelling is in that family of projects. You apply to the local council. If you are not sure, including where a condition or a local restriction might bite, Citizens Advice says to check with the council [S1]. You can find the council on GOV.UK [S1].
There is usually a fee when you submit a planning application. Citizens Advice says the Planning Portal shows an extra service charge if you apply through its website, and that posting the application to the council means you do not pay that extra service charge [S1]. No fee table is copied. Look up the current fee when you are ready to apply, and keep the receipt.
If permission is refused or was never obtained, Citizens Advice warns you can be told to put things right or undo the work, and that selling later can be harder [S1].
GOV.UK: find your local council for building control. QuoteZila is not affiliated with this organisation.
Building regulations for a new dwelling
The Building Regulations 2010 cover the construction and extension of buildings [S2]. Approval is not the same decision as planning permission. GOV.UK says you might need both [S2]. For a house that is not higher-risk, you use the council's building control department or a private registered building control approver [S2].
Higher-risk buildings are at least 7 storeys or 18 metres high and are a hospital, a care home, or contain at least two residential units [S2]. The Building Safety Regulator route on that page is for those buildings. Say the storey count in the enquiry so nobody prices the wrong regime. A two-storey house is not a building of at least 7 storeys [S2]. It still needs building regulations approval, because the regulations cover the construction of buildings [S2].
Without approval, compliance certificates can be missing when you sell, and the person doing the work can be prosecuted if they do not comply [S2]. Citizens Advice says that if you need a building control body you apply before work starts, usually paying a fee then and possibly again at inspection [S1].
GOV.UK: building regulations approval. QuoteZila is not affiliated with this organisation.
VAT: new house is the exception, not the assumption
On GOV.UK, most work by builders on houses and flats is charged at the standard rate of 20% [S3]. The zero-rate cases it names include building a new house or flat, and some work for disabled people in their home, where the conditions are met [S3]. A reduced rate of 5% is described for other situations, including converting a building into a house or flats, which is not the same sentence as building a new house [S3].
Do not let a tender say "no VAT" without saying which of those cases it relies on. Do not let another tender add 20% in silence [S3]. The rate is the one on GOV.UK's page on VAT for builders. Citizens Advice says the paperwork should state whether VAT is included [S1]. A business registers for VAT when taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000 [S4].
Services, specification and the sections of a tender
A new house is a bundle. The ground works, the shell, the roof, the windows, the heating, the electrics, the kitchen, the bathrooms and the drive can each be a subcontract. Citizens Advice says to be very clear about the work you want done, because that will help you get the most accurate price and prevent misunderstandings later [S1]. For a house, that means naming the drawings, the specification, and which parts the owner supplies rather than the builder. A tender that leaves those choices open is a different job from one that names them. Citizens Advice wants those parts separated on a written quote, with at least three traders asked where you are comparing like for like [S1]. An estimate is a rough guess and can rise. A quote is a fixed price, and the trader should not charge more unless you agree extra work or there was a genuine mistake in the sum [S1].
| Section | What moves it | What "included" looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Plot and access | Demolition is a different project from a clear site | Stated, or absent on purpose |
| Substructure | Ground, drainage, the slab | A specification, not "foundations" |
| Shell and roof | Brick, timber, windows, insulation standard | Drawings referenced by number |
| Heating and water | System type and who commissions it | Plumbers or the main contractor, named |
| Electrics | New circuits, including the sort of cooker circuit the Planning Portal lists as notifiable unless a registered person certifies it [S5] | Electricians who can self-certify, named |
| Kitchen and bathrooms | Supply versus fit only | A list, or "by others" in clear words |
| Outside | Drive, fences, paths | Cross-check the driveway guide if the hardstanding is large |
| VAT | 20%, 5% or zero rate, and why [S3] | A line, not a shrug |
The Planning Portal says electrical work in a home must comply with the building regulations, and that notifiable jobs include a complete new circuit [S5]. A new house is full of new circuits. Do not wire it from these notes. Look an electrician up on the Electrical Safety First search, the NICEIC register or the NAPIT register. Electrical Safety First: find a registered electrician; NICEIC; NAPIT. QuoteZila is not affiliated with this organisation. Gas appliances, if the design has them, belong with an engineer on the Gas Safe Register. Gas Safe Register. QuoteZila is not affiliated with this organisation.
Professional design is part of the budget even though no pound figure for it is printed. Ask whether the tender assumes you already hold planning drawings and structural calculations. A price that excludes them is not comparable with one that includes them.
Citizens Advice's deposit guidance still applies to a long build: do not hand over the entire sum at the start. If a deposit cannot be avoided, keep it to 25% or below, take a receipt, or buy specified materials yourself [S1]. Stage payments should name the stage. Tell the insurer, once there is a building to insure, and ask what they need while the site is open. Citizens Advice says to contact your buildings insurer about cover during work, that the premium can be higher during and after, and that the insurer will probably want the trader's insurance details [S1]. On a bare plot you may be arranging a site policy rather than amending a household policy. Ask the insurer which one they will write. Do not guess.
Crewe, Nantwich and the plot, not the postcode
Crewe grew as a railway town. The station is on the West Coast Main Line. Nantwich is on the River Weaver. A new house near either is still a planning application, a ground investigation and a specification. Sandbach, on the Trent and Mersey Canal, is the same. Do not write "a Cheshire plot" and expect three identical tenders. Describe the access for deliveries, the trees, and whether anyone has told you a sewer crosses the land. If you have not asked, say that too.
Jobs you might post
These are examples, not taken from real job posts.
- Tender to build a four-bedroom house in Nantwich from planning drawings the owner already holds, services and external works separated.
- Shell and watertight only, on a plot in Crewe, with the owner to appoint finishes later so the first contract has an edge.
- Groundworks and slab for a new house in Sandbach, engineer’s design supplied, building control included.
- Comparison of two specifications for the same footprint, so the tender shows what the simpler specification leaves out.
QuoteZila is free for customers and local businesses [QZ1].
A job can be sent to up to five matched local businesses [QZ2].
Posting a job is not open yet
Questions about building a house
Does QuoteZila check the businesses?
No. We don't check insurance, qualifications or registrations, so please check these yourself before you hire. You can report a quote or a business from your job page.
Do I need planning permission to build a house?
Citizens Advice says you usually need planning permission from the council if you are building something new, and it gives that as a separate case from altering a building you already have. You might also need permission for smaller changes where extra restrictions apply, and the council is who you ask if you are unsure. That still does not mean a particular paddock in Cheshire already has permission.
Are building regulations a second hurdle?
Yes. GOV.UK says the Building Regulations 2010 cover the construction and extension of buildings, and that building regulations approval is different from planning permission. You might need both. A new house is construction of a building. Higher-risk buildings, at least 7 storeys or 18 metres high, go to the Building Safety Regulator in the cases that page describes. A two-storey house is not a building of at least 7 storeys.
Is VAT on a new house the same as VAT on an extension?
GOV.UK says VAT for most work on houses and flats by builders is the standard rate of 20%, but you may not have to charge VAT on building a new house or flat if the conditions are met. Those conditions are on that page's linked guidance. They are not a promise that every new house is at a zero rate. Ask the builder, and ask an accountant if the project is a new dwelling. Registration still matters: the threshold is £90,000 of taxable turnover.
What should a tender for a new house separate?
Citizens Advice says a written quote should break down the work and the materials, say how long the price lasts, and say whether VAT is included. For a whole house, ask for the substructure, the frame or brick shell, the roof, the services, the kitchen and bathrooms, and the external works as separate sections. A single lump with no sections cannot be compared with another lump.
Who connects the services?
Electrics in a new dwelling have to comply with the building regulations. The Planning Portal says a new circuit is notifiable unless a registered competent person self-certifies, and it gives a cooker circuit as one example. Water and heating are part of the tender, not a surprise after plastering. Use registered trades for gas and electrics, and do not treat first fix as a weekend task.
Part of Cost guides. All services
Related trades
Cost guides
Related pages
- Bungalow loft: what changes the price. In Cheshire, a bungalow loft price turns on roof height, the new stair and the floor structure. No pound figure is printed. See the rules and the quote lines.
- Cavity Wall Insulation: What Changes the Quote. What moves a cavity wall insulation quote: wall area, access, the survey, the material, removing old fill and the building control step. No price printed.
Sources
- QZ1: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila pricing line.
- QZ2: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila matching cap.
- S1: Before you get work done on your home, Citizens Advice. Accessed 2026-10-26. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/getting-home-improvements-done/before-you-get-building-work-done/
- S2: Building regulations approval, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-26. https://www.gov.uk/building-regulations-approval
- S3: VAT for builders, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-26. https://www.gov.uk/vat-builders
- S4: Register for VAT, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-26. https://www.gov.uk/register-for-vat
- S5: Electrics: building regulations, Planning Portal. Accessed 2026-10-26. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/electrics/building-regulations-general-information