Home Build & Renovation Budget Planner (UK) | Self-Build Budget Spreadsheet for Excel

Know at any moment what you planned, what you signed, what you paid and what your build is on course to cost: one workbook for the money of a self-build or a major renovation in the UK.

The Home Build & Renovation Budget Planner (UK) is a budget spreadsheet in pounds, with no macros, for Excel 2016 or later. It uses UK vocabulary: quotes, variations, stage payments, first and second fix, practical completion, retention, building control and snagging.

What you get

• Home-Build-Renovation-Budget-Planner-UK.xlsx – 11 tabs, native formulas only:
  • Start Here: the 5-step start, colour code, how to clear the sample data.
  • Settings: project details, contingency reserve (10% by default), project dates, status date, alert thresholds, payment stage caps, drop-down lists.
  • Dashboard: total budget, committed, paid, forecast, variance, reserve remaining, variations, forecast completion, 14 calculated alerts, budget by category, 2 native charts.
  • Budget by Trade: 30 UK trades (architect, structural engineer, planning and building control fees, structural warranty, site insurance, groundworks, drainage, scaffolding, brickwork, roofing, windows, plumbing and heating, electrics, MVHR, plastering, joinery, kitchen, bathrooms, decorating, driveway, landscaping, prelims).
  • Quote Comparison: up to 3 quotes per trade; the lowest is shaded, the selected one is flagged, the differences are calculated.
  • Variations: log with cost and programme impact, status and signature check.
  • Stage Payments: payment requests by stage with an editable cap per stage (retention included) and a check that warns when a payment runs ahead of the work verified or comes without an invoice.
  • Selections: finishes room by room with allowance, choice, cost and decision deadline.
  • Timeline: phases with planned and forecast dates, days late and weekly bars.
  • Build Checklist: planning permission and conditions, building regulations and building control inspections, warranty provider, certificates, snagging and handover.
  • Warranty Log: warranties (structural warranty from NHBC or another provider, products, workmanship) with calculated end dates. Delivered with a complete fictitious example (a 190 m² self-build in England, about £380k including the reserve, mid-build).
• Home-Build-Renovation-Budget-Planner-Guide-UK.pdf – 12 pages in plain English: how the workbook thinks, the 5-step start, each tab explained, the 14 alerts, the 10 most common budget mistakes, a start-up checklist, a weekly routine, a glossary, and the rules worth checking with their gov.uk sources (planning permission, building regulations approval, VAT refunds for DIY housebuilders), checked on 17 and 18 October 2026.

Calculated, not declared

Forecast = selected quote (or the plan) + approved variations. Committed = signed contracts only. The reserve absorbs the forecast above the plan. Each stage payment is compared with its cap and with the % of work verified. Every figure on the Dashboard is a formula.

Vat

VAT on building work depends on the type of work and the contractor: the workbook records amounts as you pay them and builds in no VAT rate. The guide points to the gov.uk guidance on the DIY housebuilders VAT refund scheme.

Quality

No add-ins. Built in Excel with functions that Google Sheets also supports (no macros, no XLOOKUP, LET, LAMBDA or dynamic arrays). If you import it into Google Sheets, check charts, colours and drop-down lists after import. Recalculated in Excel with 0 formula errors and checked against an independent calculation of the sample data.

Personal use on your own projects; share it with the people involved in your build. Resale and redistribution are not allowed.

Fictitious sample data. Written with AI assistance and reviewed. Not legal, tax or financial advice.

Seller: SASU MOE CAPITAL, 95 impasse des Garennes, 81710 Saïx, France. Terms of Service · Consumers: 14-day right of withdrawal, Withdraw from contract here · Consumer mediator (France): Société de la Médiation Professionnelle (SMP), Alteritae, 5 rue Salvaing, 12000 Rodez, France – www.mediateur-consommation-smp.fr.