Have you recently completed a project? Enter the Homebuilding & Renovating Awards 2024 for the chance to win £1,000

The Homebuilding & Renovating Awards have been showcasing and celebrating Britain’s best homes for more than 30 years. If you've recently completed a self-build, renovation, conversion or extension project, then we want to hear from you!

This year we’re looking for exceptional homeowners who have gone above and beyond to create their dream homes tailored for their unique lifestyles. Houses of every size, shape and budget are welcome in the categories. 

Previous winners include a newly built oak-framed cottage for £200k, a 1960s modernist property transformed into an energy-efficient Enerphit home and an ageing bungalow demolished to make way for a contemporary Passivhaus project in Bedfordshire.

Our annual awards aren’t just about putting amazing design in the spotlight, however. They also highlight the hard work and determination of the homeowners, builders, architects, contractors and DIYers that make such individual and interesting homes possible. 

"Every year we're blown away, not just by the quality of the self-builds and renovations, but also the personal stories that go hand in hand with them," says Beth Murton, editor of Homebuilding & Renovating. "This year, we're also delighted to announce that our 2024 awards are in partnership with The Times and The Sunday Times."

Entering the awards is a fantastic way to celebrate your build and thank the people who were involved in creating your new home. It takes just a few minutes to enter online (details below) – plus it’s free! We can’t wait to see what you’ve been up to… 

2024 Homebuilding & Renovating Awards

One of the shortlisted projects will be chosen by a public vote to win our prestigious Readers’ Choice Award, and one will be selected by our panel of expert judges to win the overall accolade of Home of the Year 2024 and a £1,000 prize. 

You’ll also have the chance to have your home professionally photographed to appear in Homebuilding & Renovating magazine. 

2024 judging panel

Our panel of expert judges will be deciding on the winners in each category of the Homebuilding & Renovating Awards 2024.

• Laura Jane Clarke: founder of Lamp Architects, TV presenter (Your Home Made Perfect and Ugly House to Lovely House) and author of The Handbook of Home Design.
• Darren Bray: founder and director of Studio B.A.D Architects, lectures at Reading School of Architecture and is visiting critic at Brighton Interior Architecture School.
• Sian Astley: an interior designer, project manager, serial renovator and builder. She has worked on the TV programmes DIY SOS and Your Home Made Perfect.
• Claire Lloyd: has been Editor in Chief of Homebuilding & Renovating since 2016 and has completed a major renovation of a period cottage. 
• Michael Holmes Director of Content at Homebuilding & Renovating and chair of the National Custom and Self Build Association, an author and a presenter of various TV property shows.
• Beth Murton: is Editor of Homebuilding & Renovating and has been a homes journalist for more than 20 years. She has also renovated two houses.
• Carol Lewis: is the Property Editor of The Times and The Sunday Times. She won Columnist of the Year at the Property Press awards in 2022.
• Natasha Brimsmead: is Associate Editor of Homebuilding & Renovating and has renovated her own Edwardian home on a DIY basis.

2024 categories

Best Self-Build sponsored by Self-Build Zone

Have you built your dream home from scratch? The judges are looking for well-designed new homes of all styles, sizes and budgets.

Best Self Build Sponsor

Sponsored by Self-Build Zone

You invest time and money in your self-build so protect it from day one. Site insurance covers you throughout construction while our A-rated Structural Warranties help you sell. Get a quote with Self-Build Zone now.

Best Extension sponsored by ID Systems

For projects that have added an extension to an existing property to create a home that works for your lifestyle perfectly.

Best Extension Sponsor

Sponsored by IDSystems

For over 20 years IDSystems has set the standards for innovative glazing systems for self builders and renovation projects. Their multi award-winning product range includes the EDGE2.0 ultra-slim sliding doors and Vistaline, the exclusive slide & turn system, alongside a complete glazing package of bespoke windows, doors and glass roofs.

Best Conversion sponsored by Sunflex

From barns and schools to churches and other such non-domestic buildings. We want to see structures that have been transformed into modern homes. 

Best Conversion Sponsor 

Sponsored by Sunflex 

A manufacturer of bespoke aluminium doors systems, including award-winning bifold doors and sliding doors. These products are supplied by recognised Sunflex UK distributors across the UK, ensuring you receive the products and installations that meet the highest standards of quality.

Best Renovation sponsored by The Sash Window Workshop

We’re searching for previously dated, forgotten and unloved homes that have been saved through careful restoration, imaginative remodels or ambitious renovation schemes.

Best Renovation Sponsor

Sponsored by The Sash Window Workshop

The Sash Window Workshop specialise in manufacturing, installing and repairing timber windows and doors across London and the South. Its employees are experts in their fields and will provide you with high-quality, thermally efficient windows and doors that will work perfectly.

Best Green Home Sponsored by Internorm

Have you built or retrofitted a home to the very highest sustainable standards? If so, this eco home category is the one for you.

Best Green Home Sponsor

Sponsored by Internorm Windows UK Ltd

High-performance, triple-glazed windows are an investment in your home. Suitable for Passivhaus, Internorm’s passion for innovation, sustainable manufacturing and energy efficiency, make it the go-to-brand for anyone building a green home. Contact us today for further information.

Best Interior sponsored by Charlton & Jenrick

We’re looking for any type of home project that showcases a flair for finishing touches on the house design and attention to detail. 

Best Interior Sponsor

Sponsored by Charlton & Jenrick

Established in 1986, Charlton & Jenrick has grown to offer a number of industry-leading brands covering all aspects and channels of the fireplace industry. Its gas fires are hand made in Telford, Shropshire, and both its gas and electric fires, plus its woodburning stoves are sold through a dedicated network of over 400 showrooms around the UK.

Best Value Home sponsored by Kinedo 

A category for homes that represent exceptional value for money, or projects that have been achieved on a tight budget.

Best Value Home

Sponsored by Kinedo

Kinedo offers a range of shower enclosures, shower cubicles and shower trays to suit every need. Behind every Kinedo product there is the know-how, innovation, quality, excellence and reliability of the Saniflo brand, allowing you to focus solely on enjoying the showering experience.

Best Custom Build Scheme sponsored by Plotfinder

This category is open for homes facilitated by architects, developers or suppliers of all shapes and sizes. 

Best Custom Build Scheme

Sponsored by Plotfinder

The UK’s leading land and renovation finding service – from Homebuilding & Renovating. Offering more than 10,000 plots and properties for sale across the UK, it’s the perfect way to find your next project.

Best Contemporary Home sponsored by VELFAC

Does your home cater to every aspect of modern tastes and living? The judges are looking for homes that use clever design to suit a contemporary lifestyle.

Best Contemporary Home 

Sponsored by VELFAC

As one of Europe’s leading window manufacturers, VELFAC are aware of their responsibility towards people, the environment and society. Ever since the company was founded, in 1965, consideration and concern for the climate and the environment have influenced everything they do, and shaped their products and production processes.

Spirit of Self-Build sponsored by SIPS Eco

Has your home delivered against all the odds, or has it significantly improved the lives of its occupants? We want to hear from you.

Spirit of Self-Build 

Sponsored by SIPS Eco

SIPs Eco design, engineer, manufacture and construct homes for developers, contractors, local authorities and self-builders, as well as providing energy-efficient structures for schools and healthcare facilities across the UK. A sophisticated 3D design system ensures products arrive on site, getting it right first time.

Home of the Future sponsored by Loft Leg

This category celebrates homes that represent futureproofed, creative concepts by featuring the very latest technologies, smart automation and cutting-edge design techniques.

Home of the Future

Sponsored by Loft Leg

Loft Leg design and make loft products for raising loft boards above insulation, creating additional loft storage and illuminating loft spaces.

How to enter

Submitting a project into the awards is easy and free. Simply complete the entry form below. The closing date for entering the awards is 17 June 2024. 

The project must have been finished within the last three years, or be at least very nearly complete, in order to qualify for the competition. 

Entries will need to have attached:

• Floorplans (before and after plans in the case of renovations and extensions, where possible) 
• At least two "before’’ photographs, where relevant
• Five to 10 interior images (living room, kitchen, bedrooms etc)
• At least one photograph of the exterior of the house

Shortlisted projects may be visited in person by our awards panel and will be featured both in the magazine and online, so you must be prepared for you and your home to be photographed. Some winners will also gain coverage in The Times and The Sunday Times.

2023 award winners

Take a look at the winners in each category of our 2023 awards and see the type of projects that took home the top accolades last year. 

Home of the Year & Best Self-Build: Blackwood

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• Architects: Charlie Luxton Design
• Location: Woburn, near Milton Keynes

The 2023 Home of the Year Award was awarded to Duncan and Anaya Bush’s inspiring self-build. Not only is it a masterclass in house design, it masks a whole host of technologies that makes this one of the most eco-friendly homes you’re likely to come across.

“The minimalist monochrome interior of this clever suburban build belies the amount of thought and effort which has clearly gone into creating a thoroughly Healthy Home with, amazingly, no heating,” says judge Sian Astley. “There are lots of take-away tips for keen self-builders, as well as a super-stylish envelope, which I found very attractive.”  

The couple took a hands-on approach at every stage – from originating the idea of creating a series of cubes to project managing the build, as well as taking an active part in the planting and landscaping – all of which took place in the midst of the pandemic.

Home of the Future & Reader's Choice Awards 2023: Northamptonshire Home

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• Architects: Greenaway Architecture 
• Location: Northamptonshire 

Greenaway Architecture took the concept of accessibility to heart when designing this contemporary five-bedroom home on the grounds of a Grade II-listed 16th century farmhouse. The finished home responds to the challenges of living with Motor Neurone Disease (MND), providing the occupants with accessible features for every stage or life – even when their mobility naturally diminishes. 

The layout is open, flowing and functional with expansive glazing throughout the property to visually connect the occupants with the outdoors at all times, whether standing, sitting or lying down. Occupational Therapists and a Professor of Clinical Neurology & Neuroscience were consulted throughout the design process.

Best Extension: Greenlawns

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• Architects: Forest Architecture
• Location: Christchurch, Dorset

When it came to extending their family home in Dorset, the owners of Greenlawns were faced with a unique challenge. As their property was positioned adjacent to an angled boundary hedge, a conventional linear extension simply wouldn't suffice. So collaborating closely with Forest Architecture, they explored creative options to create an extension with dynamic angles and abundant natural light. They sought to capture views of the garden from nearly every room, resulting in a cantilevered design that efficiently shields the property from the summer sun with exposed brickwork and beams. 

Connecting the indoors to the outdoors was paramount, achieved through a double-sided chimney breast and seamlessly extending joists into the cantilever. Material choice, including D71 Peterson brick, Siberian larch windows, and ash flooring, blends the extension with the main house. This broken-plan living approach caters to the family's needs, allowing for togetherness and private spaces. The finished extension is a masterstroke of design, striking a careful balance between beauty and practicality. 

Best Contemporary Home: Derwent Valley Villa 

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• Architects: Blee Halligan
• Location: The Derwent Valley

Taking its inspiration from the historic 18th-century red-brick cotton mills that still abound in the surrounding Derwent Valley area, this family home harnesses an architecture that is bold and purposeful. 

“The house is a masterclass of restraint and rigour, both externally and internally — the detailing is exquisite, it shows just what can be delivered with a highly experienced architect,” says judge Darren Bray of Studio B.A.D. “It’s a modest piece of architecture, as it sits in the street scene very quietly, almost not announcing its presence to its neighbours and that’s always the mark of a successful piece of architecture.” 

Meanwhile the interior is a treasure trove of playful surprises, including a semi-secret stairwell that leads up to a gallery overlooking a stunning double-height space, which is topped with a circular sundial rooflight that projects the passage of the day onto whitewashed timber walls.

Best Green Home: New Park Road 

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• Architects: RDA Architects 
• Location: South London

This Modernist EnerPHit home has breathed new life into a dated 1960s building, seamlessly blending its original aesthetic with sustainable design and technologies. Facing extensive repair needs, including air leaks and dampness, RDA Architects chose transformation over demolition. The layout was modernised to enhance circulation, segregate private and public spaces, and integrate them with the garden. Elsewhere, meticulous attention was paid to recreate bespoke joinery.

The completed home is a triumph in sustainability, meeting Passivhaus standards and aligning with the RIBA 2030 Climate challenge. What’s more, it operates as a living lab, continually monitored to optimise performance and provide insights to the design community. Impressively, it consumes 88% less energy than an average UK home, thanks to a 7.8 kW PV panel system covering 77% of energy needs.

Judge Darren Bray hails it as “A model for adapting and retrofitting 20th-century homes, underscoring the importance of thermal efficiency upgrades”. He applauds the attention to detail and highlights its role in climate change mitigation and low-carbon targets in the UK.

Best Value Project: Leytonstone

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• Architects: Rees Architects 
• Location: East London

This Victorian property in Leytonstone posed an intriguing challenge for its owners, who sought to expand the footprint of their two-storey, two-bedroom home despite having limited space in which to do so. A loft conversion was the ideal solution, so they enlisted Rees Architects to expand their property 'up' rather that 'out'. The finished loft conversion is a triumph, utilising every inch of available space to create a spacious master bedroom with an ensuite and an additional bedroom in the loft.

Judge Sian Astley commends the project, stating, "This inspiring and spacious loft extension is a breath of fresh air, defying the typical cramped spaces found in loft conversions. It brilliantly combines functionality with adventurous use of colour and materials. It's a game-changer for Regupol, just as Nigella did for semolina and maple syrup."

Similarly, Judge Darren Bray applauds the project's ingenious use of space, describing it as a 'masterclass in minimalistic living'.

Best Renovation: Sheen Park

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• Architects: Woodrow Vizor
• Location: Richmond, London

Woodrow Vizor worked closely with the owners of Sheen Park to transform their deteriorating 1940s semi-detached property into a modern family home that showcases their sense of creativity. 

Crafted by the clients, one of whom is a product designer, the finished house is a fusion of artistry and functionality. At its heart lies an open-plan kitchen, living, and dining area with a 7m clear span timber-frame extension. 

The rear elevation is divided into distinct sections, offering comfort and partial privacy. Birch plywood doors open to reveal a hideaway home study showcasing the client's design prowess. 

Upstairs, an attic conversion and dormer installation create a master ensuite bedroom. The design enhances the sense of space, making the attic feel grander. The first-floor hallway is also expanded, prioritising light and volume. The renovation of the home included the addition of top-to-bottom insulation. The existing cavity walls remain accessible externally for potential future upgrades, making this a home for a lifetime.

Best Interiors: Higher Dorsley

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• Architects: VESP Architects
• Location: South Hams, Devon

This Class Q barn conversion, located in the beautiful South Hams, is a truly remarkable family home and a fitting tribute to local agricultural architecture. Upon entry, Higher Dorsley's double-height kitchen and living space offers abundant natural light and courtyard garden views. "This property gives some serious wows," praises Judge Sian Astley. "From the soaring black steel framing, the impressive timber structure visible internally and the tactile, elegant larch cladding to the exterior. I love the external palette of materials used, complemented so well inside by the fluted oak kitchen and refined bathroom specifications. Gorgeously finished and not a part of it I didn’t enjoy looking at."

Best Conversion: Ansell's Barn  

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• Architects: Tyack Architects Ltd
• Location: Wyck Rissington, Gloucestershire

The owners of Ansell's Barn sought to transform several disused agricultural buildings into a contemporary, energy-efficient home that could house their growing collection of artwork. 

To actualise their vision they enlisted the help of Tyack Architects, whose H-plan design linked together each of the historic cottages, a cart shed, and a Dutch Barn with contemporary glass structures to create an airy and expansive home. 

This impressive conversion project tastefully references the buildings' history by using locally-sourced Cotswold stone and oak alongside steel, glass, and zinc. Not only does it preserve the site's agricultural character but also enhances the village green's views – transforming what was once an eyesore into a stunning contemporary house within the conservation area. The finished home has ample space to house the owner's art, plus it also offers various spaces for living and working and is a joy to inhabit.

Spirit of Self Build: Woodfield 

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• Architects: Border Oak
• Location: Herefordshire

This modern oak-framed home is part of a larger custom and self-build collective scheme comprising nine homes. Over several years, Border Oak collaborated closely with the landowner to create a distinctive edge-of-village development, offering self-build, custom build, and custom finish plots of various sizes and designs. 

Roxy, the landowners' daughter, built a contemporary two-bedroom with her own two hands, assisted by talented builders along the way. Her completed home features a spacious open-plan ground floor with an impressive oak-framed vaulted "garden room" and even incorporates a home gym. It's heated by an Air Source Heat Pump, super-insulated, virtually airtight, and solar-designed, using sustainable natural materials like oak, timber weatherboard, and slate. Roxy's achievement showcases her dedication, skill, and keen attention to detail, resulting in an affordable, sustainable, and beautifully finished first home. Bravo! 

Best Custom Build: Webb's Meadow

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• Architects: Oakwrights
• Location: Lyonshall, Herefordshire 

Adjacent to the scenic village of Lyonshall, Herefordshire, Webb's Meadow is a pioneering custom build development built in strategic partnership with Oakwrights. Phase one of this 3½-acre development offered homeowners the opportunity to purchase one of 11 plots to build the oak-framed home of their dreams. Ranging from two to five bedrooms, each property was designed to be flexibly adapted to the individual homeowner's needs. 

A crucial element in this project was the concept of the 'Plot Passport', which ensured that individual houses could be fully bespoke, while retaining an overarching aesthetic that was harmonious with the local vernacular. Webbs Meadows is the first part of a much larger project to invest in the future of the Lyonshall community and will be followed by exciting plans to renovate and revive the historic Royal George Pub at the heart of the village. 

Don't forget, entries close on 17 June 2024, so don't delay. The link you need to complete your entry for the 2024 Homebuilding & Renovating Awards in partnership with The Times and The Sunday Times can be found here.