[smallholder in the city]

Interesting article in Guardian about an Irish architect who built his own 3 bed house for £21000. He's made all the plans availabe online for free here:

http://www.irishvernacular.com/index.html

Here's the link to the article about it: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/24/homes-self-build

[Dan]

I like it. We have vague notions of building a small office here, this sort of thing on a smaller scale would be ideal.

Not sure if the planning regs are as lax in Ireland as they once were, I'd be interested to know if you'd get permission in the UK to build it?

[robert waddell]

just before the bottom fell out the construction industry  you would not get two foundations up to floor level for that money
Dan if you are serious about an office you can get very good portakabins for not much money and any size you want and the planning are easier with them not a chance of every converting them into a house
but then i could be having a laugh

[doganjo]

Not very pretty, is it?  Mine cost £129K in 2005, 4 double bedrooms, bathroom same size, dining room twice that, family room half as much again and lounge twice that!  Sold it it 2 and a half years after moving in for more than double.

[deepinthewoods]

well done you.
in cornwall theres 23 000 people on the housing register, thats ust less than one in ten of the population here.

i would love to build a 21k house but the land price for that size footprint here would be at least double that.

'pretty' really doesnt matter.

[doganjo]

'pretty' really doesnt matter.

It does to me, an investment that size I have to be able to enjoy.

[deepinthewoods]

theres nothing pretty about a housing market collapse.

[mab]

'pretty' really doesnt matter

unfortunately it does matter the the council planning dept - they're more interested in 'preserving the countryside' for those who can afford to live there than providing housing for people on a limited budget.

[deepinthewoods]

there is NO housing for people on a limited budget. and its only going to get worse.
here in cornwall the average wage is 16k and the average house price 250k  25% of the housing stock is second homes.

tho if i had made 150k in two years by doing nothing id be feeling 'pretty' smug too.


the trouble is, the poor dont go away and they reproduce quicker.

[doganjo]

'pretty' really doesnt matter

unfortunately it does matter the the council planning dept - they're more interested in 'preserving the countryside' for those who can afford to live there than providing housing for people on a limited budget.

Hmm, a little simplified methinks.  I built up the value of property by  selling at increased values due to making improvements as I went along - I wasn't suddenly 'able to afford' to live in the countryside - we lived in town, bought a house in a good estate on a high mortgage while we were earning well, and moved to the countryside to a lower value property by dropping as much of the mortgage as we could when the children were old enough to travel to town themselves.  We spent money improving that place, and when my husband was killed in an accident the mortgage was paid off, and I moved a couple of years later and did the same, bought for less than I sold, spent the balance doing it up, etc and gradually built up equity.  It is hard work and takes a lot of brain power.  And I don't feel smug.   I feel smart.   we started with a flat worth £3000 in Aberdeen and a mortgage of £2950!

[deepinthewoods]

and impossible to do now.

unless you start with a less than pretty house for 21k

[Surrey Dodger]

If you want to build 'pretty' that is a personal perogative.

Sadly, the planning system in this country is based on preserving appearances rather than creating enough homes for all. You just have to remember that the planning sytem is dictated by those already living in well off abodes. The last thing they want is the masses enjoying the same right.

[MAK]

Great to read, how despite her sad loss, Doganjo's efforts has enabled her to be where she is now.
I agree it is a difficult property market now - gone are the days we could double the value of a 3 bed house in London in 14th months ( and escape to Suffolk) or get a 95% mortgage.

The cheap kit house is interesting. Here land is cheap and most French buy the new "leggo" houses that all look so similar. That is because the quaint french farm house costs a fortune to renovate. There are hundreds of old empty small farm houses with land - only the Brits or Dutch want them.

We have a barn we don't use and it would be cheaper to knock it down and build a new kit house than to renovate it.

Log cabins - there are 3 plots around us with people living in a caravan whilst building a log cabin.   

[bazzais]

There will always be a 'bubble' to ride - you just have to spot it before the bubble takes off.  Everyone has an equal opportunity to do that, but maybe not the skills or the bottle?  Who knows - I see little point in condemning anyone who made money in the housing boom, anyone who made it on the internet boom, anyone who made it in the land grab boom, anyone who made it in the .... well you get my gist.

The coutryside is the countryside for a reason - if you could buy a few acres and build a £21,000 home on it with easy planning - it wouldn't be the countryside anymore would it?

Baz

[Womble]

Who knows - I see little point in condemning anyone who made money in the housing boom.......

That's true, but all these booms do have consequences, and the housing boom in particular has robbed the young to give to the old. It all makes that dream of a wee place in the country (or frankly the city) unaffordable for the vast majority. The trouble is, so much of our economy is now built on this house price bubble, the government cannot afford to let it pop as it would have done by now without the endless injections of cheap cash financed by, oh yes, the next generation again!

So, for £21,000 it sure ain't pretty, but if it gets you your slice of the Good Life and independence from the bank manager that bit quicker, why not?