Hey friends and fellow self builders! I’m writing from our static caravan here on Bantaskin Street. A lot has happened in the last month - but we’re not building just yet. I’m going to post a lot more about the process and the technical submission details in the coming weeks as we are waiting to hear back from Building Control before we can break ground.
Our caravan, Crystal Tips, nestling in the grass at the back of our plot on Bantaskin Street.
We bought our plot of land from Glasgow City Council on the 1st July and had pre-arrange to re-mortgage our flat on Millbrae Crescent to free up enough funds to buy the plot outright. We will be building the house with the help of a Self-Build Mortgage, hopefully from a great company called Ecology. They have agreed in principle, but we must submit all our design details, materials, build plan and full budget plan before they will release the first batch of dosh. This first batch will hopefully be enough to get us out of the ground - as they say! (When we are “out of the ground” we will have put down piles, built our ground beam, laid our concrete slab, and we’ll be ready to start the carpentry for the frame on the slab).
Lots of you have been asking how we managed to get a plot of land in Glasgow, and how we were able to design the house ourselves when it’s usually very strict, especially within city boundaries. The scheme we are a part of here includes 5 other Self Builders. It’s a pilot scheme, and we are the guinea pigs! If all goes well, the council plan to release and sell many more plots. Luckily for us six, we have a really open and flexible design code, so we’ve been able to design our dream house. We received official Planning Permission last week!
A couple of weeks ago we, along with our architect Grigor Mitchell, submitted our layouts to Building Control. This was all the detailing around plumbing, electrics, groundworks, energy ratings and lots of other important information. We are still pulling together all the energy documents and researching the best methods for our new heating supply. Part of the design code requires us to meet the Silver Active energy rating, so Grigor has ensured we have enough going on there, including a couple of solar panels.
We’re testing a lot of this stuff out here in the caravan which has been great.
Elevations for Plot 4 Bantasking Street - that’s us!
I’m going to post more about these specifics in the coming weeks:
Groundworks & foundations - Piling, pouring our concrete slab and screed and the detailing around where the Douglas fir timber posts meet the floor
Our house design and the surroundings - how we’re going to fit in!
Living onsite - We are the only people living on the street in the middle of Maryhill with no electricity or water
Work/life/life balance - Planning the build, living off-grid, running an Airbnb, running our co-working space and maintaining a social life (and our sanity)
Let me know if there’s anything I’ve missed or there is anything in particular that might make interesting reading!
Big love.
Joanna xx
View of our house from the street (without any trees or plants yet!)