Are you looking for an alternative to the standard two up, two down, red brick house in the suburbs? Do you want to live in a home with a difference? Well, you're not alone; inspired by TV shows such as Grand Designs, more and more people are designing and building their own quirky property that is very different to the average home.
The chance to live in a home that you've designed and even built yourself is a huge draw for many adventurous architectural types. The ever rising costs of buying a property in the UK, has meant that building your own home is now a much more economically viable option compared to a decade or two ago; and adventurous individuals are using the current economic atmosphere to build a house of their dreams.
Self built homes are often regarded as being of a higher construction quality than commercial developers' properties. The personal touch, and the fact that the designer will actually be living in the property, tends to mean that they won't scrimp and save on materials and construction; whereas some less scrupulous construction companies tend to have less consideration for running and maintenance costs, and are generally more interested in meeting basic building regulations and keeping construction costs down.
Some estate agents say that self builds can be a little harder to sell than the average red brick home. The fact that self builds are very personal to their creators, means that they may have limited appeal, especially in some of the most quirky designs, such as church conversions or eco-friendly houses. In saying that, although the appeal may be less widespread, these designs are so different from the average home that there is always somebody, somewhere who wants a room with a slightly different view.
The range of quirky property which is being built by individuals is huge, and is not limited to any one place or style; interesting self builds are popping up all over the country; from modern concept property in Lancashire, to rustic and rural thatched projects in Scotland, to inner city urban conversions in London.
If you need inspiration for your own self build project, here are a few ideas: how about converting an old river barge into a modern, floating home? Or try to build with straw bales - a surprisingly sturdy, cheap and easy building material with excellent insulating properties. And you could always go green with an off-grid eco build, using wood as the main material and incorporating photovoltaic cells, wind turbines and a composting toilet into the design.
Self build homes are on the increase, and there are even specialist self build mortgages and insurance available, so rather than buying a ready made home, why not build your own?
by Andrew Regan
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