New Build Homes Suffolk

A full new build, start to finish, is what Northgate does best. Take your architect's drawings to us and we run the entire project ourselves: groundworks and foundations, drainage and service connections, the structural shell, and every trade through to fit out and building control sign off. You get one point of contact for the whole build, not a rotating cast of subcontractors, and the same family-run team from the first site visit to the day you get the keys. Every new build carries two years of our own workmanship guarantee on top of the standard twelve months, £10 million of public liability cover, and everything else the Federation of Master Builders requires of its members. On a one-off house, every decision is yours to make, and we are the ones making sure it gets done properly.

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Builder repointing the rear elevation of a detached period house in Newmarket from a scaffold tower
What a new build actually involves

Buying a plot and building on it is a different job from choosing a house on an estate. You decide the layout, the materials and the finish, and you carry the decisions that a developer would normally make for you. A new dwelling always needs full planning permission, since permitted development rights do not apply to new houses, so that has to be secured for the specific plot before anything else moves. We talk through the planning position honestly before any design work starts, and once you have consent and an architect's drawings, we take the project on in full and run it ourselves from there.

Kitchen fitters setting a steel lintel above a chimney breast opening in a stripped-out Bury St Edmunds kitchen
Buying a plot, or already own one

Some clients come to us with an outline planning consent already in place, others own a garden plot, a paddock, or a plot cleared by a demolished bungalow, and need help understanding what the site will actually take before drawings go anywhere. Either way, the first conversation is about the ground itself and what the planning position allows, not about a catalogue of designs.

A self build is not a developer house

A volume housebuilder repeats the same handful of house types across a site, because that is what makes the numbers work at estate scale. A self build has none of that constraint. The layout, the brick, the roof material, the window positions and the room sizes are all decided by you, working with your architect or designer and with us. That freedom is also the trade-off, since every choice you do not make gets made for you on a developer estate, and on a self build nobody makes it for you. We tell you plainly where a decision needs to be settled before we can move on to the next stage of work.

Builders fitting a steel beam into a knock-through opening during a house renovation in Bury St Edmunds
Groundworks on ground nobody has tested

Every plot behaves differently underground. Trial holes and a site investigation tell us what the foundations need to deal with before we dig, whether that is clay that moves, a high water table, or made ground. Drainage and connections get planned around what the ground actually allows, not a standard drawing.

Bathroom fitter lifting floorboards to expose joists and new waste pipework during a bathroom refit in Bury St Edmunds
Building control signs off every stage

A new dwelling is inspected at set stages, foundations through to completion, and has to meet current building regulations throughout. We work to those inspections as fixed points in the programme, not a formality at the end.

How a new build goes together on site

Shell first, fit out last on a new build

Builder and homeowner reviewing drawings together on site outside a detached red brick Suffolk house

Why the shell has to be weathertight before fit out starts

Groundworks and foundations go in first, sized to what the site investigation found, followed by the structural shell, brick or block work, steels where the design needs them, the roof structure and covering. Once the building is weathertight, first fix work starts inside, wiring, plumbing and plasterboard, followed by plastering, then second fix, kitchens, bathrooms, flooring and decoration. We coordinate every trade on site ourselves throughout, so you are never chasing separate contractors to find out what stage the job is at. On top of any structural warranty your lender may require, every new build we hand over carries two years of Northgate's own workmanship guarantee, standing behind the standard twelve months we offer on general work.

New build jobs we take on
Building plot of land icon

Single plot new builds for people who already own the ground, our most common job by far.

Demolish and rebuild icon

Replacement dwellings, where an old bungalow or outbuilding comes down and one house goes up in its place.

Weathertight shell icon

Self build shells and weathertight packages, handed over for the client to fit out themselves.

New build questions

What people ask before building on a plot

Do I need planning permission to build on my plot?
How long does a new build actually take?
Can I get a self build mortgage, and how do stage payments work?
Do I need an architect?
Is VAT different on a new build?
What happens with services and connections?
Do I need a warranty or structural cover?
Which areas does Northgate cover?

A new build is one of the bigger decisions a homeowner makes, and it starts long before the first digger arrives, with the plot, the planning position and the ground itself. If you are looking at renovating or extending an existing house rather than building on a new plot, our renovations and house extensions work covers that ground. Get in touch and we will talk through what your plot or property needs.

House Extensions | Renovations | Contact Us

Get in touch

Northgate Building Limited is a friendly, family-run building company based at 32 Northgate Avenue, Bury St Edmunds, IP32 6AZ, covering Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire up to 40 miles out. FMB members, £10m public liability insured, with a 12 month workmanship guarantee (2 years on new builds). One team runs every job as your one point of contact from the first call to the final sign off.

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