Meet Sean & the team.

Adams Planning and Project Services Ltd. was founded by Sean Adams in 2012 to complement his role as a Planning and Self-Build consultant with one of the countries leading Self-Build companies, Potton Ltd.

Sean has been involved in the design and build of over 600 individual bespoke properties, including his own, as well as countless extensions, conversions and other projects.

With over 20 years of experience in the self-build industry, Sean has a wealth of experience and knowledge to help you in creating your dream home.

Sean Adams – Self-Build Specialist

Jackie Adams

Jackie has been part of Adams Planning & Project Services since its formation in 2012.

With over 20 years of experience in business administration and operations, she is invaluable in the day to day running of the business. She combines this with her role as Project Manager, working with many of our clients on the build of their new homes.

Jackie brings her toolset and drives to Adams Planning & Project Services to ensure high-quality service to keep the company on track to creating their clients dream homes.

Alfie joined the team in the summer of 2021 as an architectural technician and is currently training towards his HNC in Construction.

Alfie assists with planning design, building regulation and construction detailing on our projects. Also proficient in Sketch-Up, he produces 3D simulations of our client’s new homes which allows them to see their new home from every angle, which is proving very popular.

Photo Of Alfie Grainge

Alfie Grainge

Sean’s Self-Build Story

In 2006, my wife Jackie and I made the life-changing decision to move from Bedfordshire to Devon with our 2 daughters, Holly and Niamh. After weeks of driving to Devon to view potential homes, we just couldn’t manage to find a house nice enough for us to live in, at a price we could afford. At the time, I had been working for Potton for over 10 years as a self-build consultant and with a very good knowledge of planning, matters decide I should practice what I preached and build my own home.

With a determination to find the right plot in the right part of Devon, we actually found the plot purely by chance. In 2007 I had been to a meeting with a land sourcing company with a view to setting up an affiliation with Potton. Whilst driving to the meeting, and feeling really frustrated at not being able to find a suitable house for my family, I called Jackie to get her reaction to the idea of us building our own home. Her answer was “well if you can’t do it no one can “. At the meeting, I asked if they actually had any plots in mid-Devon, and it transpired that they had a site for 3 houses in a small village near Crediton. The site was owned by a developer who needed detailed planning permission securing as they wanted to sell the 3 plots off as serviced self-build plots. It couldn’t have been more perfect – and so a deal was done. In exactly one day I had met the developer, put our house on the market and found a place to rent in the adjacent village to where the plots were!

As it turned out, I actually ended up handling the planning application for the whole site on behalf of the developer who agreed to discount the price of my own plot as payment. I also managed to secure approval for much larger houses than we first thought. When it came to the actual build of the house, the knowledge gained from being involved in the design and construction of over 500 client houses, meant the whole process was very familiar to me. That said the day the diggers arrived on site was a very nervous day!

10 years on and the house has just had a facelift and now looks as stunning as it did the day we moved in. I still can’t believe that when I pull on to my drive that this house is mine, it was totally worth all the hard work and it’s worth half as much again as it cost us to build, and that’s a real bonus for anyone self-building.

Before I built my own home, I thought I knew all there was to know about self-build. I discovered though that there was another side to it that I wasn’t aware of. The emotional side. Having achieved the build of my own home I am able to better empathise with my clients and believe I am the better for it.

Would I build again? – Definitely, but I would never ever decorate a new house again, it was never-ending.