Starting off
This is it , I am starting this blog, more or less for myself and people that are interested, to document the difficult path of "self-build" in the UK .
The word "self-build" itself makes me creep , since it is plain and simple just building a house . Hardly anybody does build a house him/her-self. But on the other hand, hardly anybody seems to be involved in building their own homes in the UK, which is strange- after all , it is going to be YOUR home.
Just a little about me, the project and how I came across it.
I am a 35 year old Bavarian, living in the Southwest of England. I settled here around 7 years ago and made the UK my permanent home, and never regretted it.
A few years ago I was looking for a cheap storage solution, and by cheap i mean THE CHEAPEST POSSIBLE , and i came across an advert offering an old building-formerly used as a children nursery .
It was not really close to mine, but it was dead cheap, so i gave it a try.
The Building was around 60years old and not in a very good state.
Fast Forward a few years, a bit of raging vandalism by the local teens and me buying the Place, I applied for Planning Permission to convert it into a House for me and the family.
The location and the setting was just too perfect. In the middle of a town, close to all shops and schools. (close meaning 1 min. walk max.) But in a Conservation area. Detached. Next Neighbour around 50 meters away, surrounded by a Park and a Churchyard.
Could not be more perfect .
Apart from:
-only access is via a Footpath.
-Probably build on an old Pond (but this I discovered later)
So Conversion it is . Technically a change of use.
All applied for. Survey after survey. Conservation area projects are a bit sensitive - I realised .
Waiting nervously if they would allow a change of use.
And then they finally approved it.
Yeahhhh
We where all happy celebrating and wanting to start the project.
Just one last thing to do -
Check the old Foundations , just to make sure.
So started digging by hand. I thought I can always call in a company if it is too difficult, later.
But this was not needed . After about 25cm i reached the bottom of the foundations.
Bummer.
So I thought I better check in a different place, Just to make sure.
Same thing. Obviously .
So we had to re-apply for a new Planning Permission for building a new Home.
As we needed new Foundations and could not re-use the existing building.
The word "self-build" itself makes me creep , since it is plain and simple just building a house . Hardly anybody does build a house him/her-self. But on the other hand, hardly anybody seems to be involved in building their own homes in the UK, which is strange- after all , it is going to be YOUR home.
Just a little about me, the project and how I came across it.
I am a 35 year old Bavarian, living in the Southwest of England. I settled here around 7 years ago and made the UK my permanent home, and never regretted it.
A few years ago I was looking for a cheap storage solution, and by cheap i mean THE CHEAPEST POSSIBLE , and i came across an advert offering an old building-formerly used as a children nursery .
It was not really close to mine, but it was dead cheap, so i gave it a try.
The Building was around 60years old and not in a very good state.
Fast Forward a few years, a bit of raging vandalism by the local teens and me buying the Place, I applied for Planning Permission to convert it into a House for me and the family.
The location and the setting was just too perfect. In the middle of a town, close to all shops and schools. (close meaning 1 min. walk max.) But in a Conservation area. Detached. Next Neighbour around 50 meters away, surrounded by a Park and a Churchyard.
Apart from:
-only access is via a Footpath.
-Probably build on an old Pond (but this I discovered later)
So Conversion it is . Technically a change of use.
All applied for. Survey after survey. Conservation area projects are a bit sensitive - I realised .
Waiting nervously if they would allow a change of use.
And then they finally approved it.
Yeahhhh
We where all happy celebrating and wanting to start the project.
Just one last thing to do -
Check the old Foundations , just to make sure.
So started digging by hand. I thought I can always call in a company if it is too difficult, later.
But this was not needed . After about 25cm i reached the bottom of the foundations.
Bummer.
So I thought I better check in a different place, Just to make sure.
Same thing. Obviously .
So we had to re-apply for a new Planning Permission for building a new Home.
As we needed new Foundations and could not re-use the existing building.
Comments
Post a Comment