Business · Economy · 5 hrs ago
French families turn to self-build homes and divided plots to cut costs
Some French families are finding cheaper ways to build homes as buying a house with a garden becomes harder to afford.
In Brittany, Antoine and his partner are finishing much of their home themselves, with help from family and guidance from a site manager.
The builder supplied the walls, roof and materials, while the couple took on tasks including plumbing and electrical work.
Doing some of the work cut their cost from €175,000 to €140,000, a saving of €35,000.
The work is inspected twice a month, and the family hopes to celebrate their baby’s six-month mark in the house in December.
A shortage of building plots is adding to the pressure: a town in Ille-et-Vilaine has six plots for sale and about 30 interested buyers.
One alternative is to divide an existing garden plot and build on part of it; a 600-square-metre garden in the story was sold for €45,000, and the land already had water and electricity connections.
French families are using self-build homes and divided plots to make owning a house more affordable.
The Livet family in Brittany is completing parts of its home themselves, reducing its cost from €175,000 to €140,000.
A shortage of available plots is also prompting people to buy parts of existing gardens for construction.
Since 2021, municipalities have had to limit expansion under France’s law on zero net land take.
- Who
- French families, including the Livet family in Brittany, are seeking more affordable ways to build homes.
- What
- Families are completing some construction work themselves or buying divided plots.
- When
- The article was published on 14 October 2026. The Livet family received the home’s shell four months earlier.
- Where
- France, including Brittany and Janzé in Ille-et-Vilaine.
- Why
- Building costs and a shortage of available land make conventional homebuilding difficult.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
French municipalities have had to limit expansion under the law on zero net land take.
Bruno Verjus bought 600 square metres of Marie-José Desclos’s garden for €45,000.
A builder delivered the walls, roof and materials for the Livet family’s home.
Antoine Livet and his brother-in-law Erwan were working on the roof’s waterproofing.
The Livet family hoped to celebrate Héloïse’s six-month birthday in the new home.
- Livet family’s self-build cost
- €140,000, compared with €175,000 turnkey
- Savings
- €35,000, or 20% of the turnkey cost
- Janzé plots
- Six plots for sale; around 30 people interested
- Divided garden plot
- 600 square metres bought for €45,000
- Mikit deliveries
- 600 kit homes in the first half of the year, 40% more than the previous year
What people are saying
Without this, we wouldn’t have been able to start a house-building project. We’d tried to find out about it and in the end it was too expensive. And now it’s possible.
We have six plots today that will be put up for sale, with around thirty people interested. We can see that the market is tight, with more demand than supply.
We come to work almost every evening of the week for two or three hours after work.
There were plum trees, hazelnut trees, all those things. It was too much work. At my age, I didn’t want to anymore; I was overwhelmed.