http://gaia-health.com/gaia-blog/2011-12-21/man-builds-fairy-tale-home-for-his-family-for-only-3000/
This similar(ie handmade and cheap) to the place I grew up in. I'd love to live like that again...
Chat Forum
3k House? Yes please.
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Posted 4 months ago #
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It actually looks very nice, and if I hand the land and time (and ability), I'd be up for something like that.
I bet he had some interesting discussions with planning and building control.Posted 4 months ago # -
How much did the land cost?
Posted 4 months ago # -
The plot, a bit of a large piece, was given to him in exchange for its caretaking.
Lucky bugger!
Posted 4 months ago # -
Not a chance that was done for £3K! It says its got Solar panels for a start which dont come cheap! And all those odd sized glass windows will have been pricey too.
Posted 4 months ago # -
The land my dad did this on cost peanuts in the early 80s. It sold last year for 400k!! prime cotswold location.
BTW he looks like cy from cotic long lost twin.Posted 4 months ago # -
how did he get planning permission and building regs it?
Posted 4 months ago # -
Frodo will be pi$$ed off when he gets back and finds he's got squatters
Posted 4 months ago # -
It's very cool!
Good luck to them I say, thanks for posting that tang
Posted 4 months ago # -
Bloody hippies.
Posted 4 months ago # -
Bloody hobbits
Posted 4 months ago # -
Crispo
He probably bought everthing second hand, scrap dealer etc.. and built the house around that.
Also the 3k doesnt include time and labour to build it, so if he added his own time and his hourly rate then you are looking at much more.
But to him other than time £3k is possible.
a work colleauge years ago bought an old barge which was on the Thames, 10 years and lots of scrap and salvaged parts he built an incredible house boat/yacht for nearly nothing and last I heard he got offered nearly a million quid and he refused it...
Posted 4 months ago # -
I have got to get me one of those, the kids would love it.
Stupid hippies, if he woke up to capitalism he could let that out to City types for a fortune.....
Posted 4 months ago # -
saw that on some tv prog a while back. looked brilliant!
Posted 4 months ago # -
It is a beautiful house, without a doubt. But he's got two kids, and the house seems to have one bedroom. I expect he'll be able to extend it though, seems very handy!
Posted 4 months ago # -
hmmm he was "given" a large plot of land likely to get planning permission.
Must have done a helluva lot of caretaking.
Posted 4 months ago # -
Lovely little cottage!
AGENTS NOTE There are no room measurements due to the unsafe nature of the property.
Posted 4 months ago # -
how did he get planning permission and building regs it?
I suspect he didn't.
Many of these things are built in the hope the council will turn a blind eye, and if they're not informed about it. If the council do complain, years later when they finally get a destruction order, you just build another one./edit - here ya go
http://simondale.net/house/planning.htmPosted 4 months ago # -
Look Brilliant. I'd live in it, especially if was near to some great trails.
Posted 4 months ago # -
Ahhh South Bank.
I went to school off Cromwell Road for a while.
Anyone buying that house should get one of these:
http://www.mod-sales.com/direct/vehicle/,37,/37043/Land_Rover.htm
( and a set of locking wheelnuts, and a big dog, and an even bigger dog to stop the big dog from getting knicked ).
Posted 4 months ago # -
from his website...
Retrospective Application
Contrary to popular belief, in Britain it is not illegal to carry out building works and changes of use without applying for planning permission before-hand. It is acceptable to instead make a retrospective application. Of course it is possible that this application could be refused. This is the approach favoured by Tesco supermarkets who rely on a mutually agreeable financial arrangement to ensure approval. It is also the approach that has most successfully been used by both low impact dwellers and many more conventional farmers although these people have generally had to rely on paperwork and logic to ensure eventual permission.In addition our planning departments do not have a general remit to enforce against unpermitted development, only to process applications and follow up on complaints. This is an significant retention of liberty and common sense. If I get a piece of land and build a monstrous palace which I use as a base for having excessively loud parties. My neighbours will probably complain to the council who will demand a retrospective application which they'd refuse and then serve an enforcement order for me to demolish the building. On the other hand, if I build a modest and discreet house on a piece of land somewhere and all my neighbours have no problem with what I am doing, the need to make a planning application will not arise. In this case, after 10 years the building and change of use will be eligible for a certificate of lawful use, meaning a planning application is not needed. If there is not a change of use, lawful use is granted after 4 years.
Many low impact living projects have now be granted temporary or permanent permission through the retrospective applications usually followed by appeals. Such cases are arguable through agricultural technicalities as well as appeals to general ecological and social commitments.
bit of a swing at Tesco....but retrospective seems the order of the day...
Posted 4 months ago # -
".. the home didn’t require years of training or experience. Simon had none. He’s not an architect. He’s not an engineer. He’s not a carpenter"
But is he safe in there? How much rain in that Sod roof before it caves in on him & his family?? A working knowledge of materials, stresses and weight distribution must be fairly useful?
Posted 4 months ago # -
I bet it leaks
Posted 4 months ago # -
You could buy a bike for that!
Posted 4 months ago # -
so he's built a discrete little home that he hopes will slip under the planning radar for 10 years and then put together a website all about how he's a clueless numpty when it comes to building thigs and subsequently been in the national press to draw attention to it?
mmmm.
Posted 4 months ago # -
He was fortunate in obtaining the land for his home
Ah.
So had he had to actually buy the land, it wooduv cost a fair bit more than £3k.
Fair play though, although I woodunt want to live in it.
Posted 4 months ago # -
But is he safe in there? How much rain in that Sod roof before it caves in on him & his family?? A working knowledge of materials, stresses and weight distribution must be fairly useful?
But he and his family are the only ones at risk. If there was significant risk, you could argue you could get child protection in, but it is a small structure, which he has obviously thought through. I bet any money its sound. I bet he has had advice and even maybe some help, its just journalistic licence. Would you risk your famly's life? Why do you assume he would?
Otherwise live and let live. And all power to the man's elbow. Nice to see someone living their lives like this IMO.
Posted 4 months ago #
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