Navigating their way through planning hurdles and DIY adventures, Fiona & John’s eco self-build journey is a testament to their patience and bravery, including getting their hands dirty to stay within budget constraints


selfbuilder Diaries


“As our goal was to build an airtight, sustainable property, SIPs panels seemed the obvious choice”


‘N


ever again!’ That was what we said after renovating our Victorian home nearly a decade ago. But now it was time to move again, and we were disappointed at the lack of sustainable homes on the market. The more homes we viewed, the more we started to wonder whether we could design and build something ourselves instead. There were plots with outline planning permission in the area, so we met with an architect to discuss what was possible.


PLANNING rom that first meeting it took seen


6 www.sbhonline.co.uk


months and 30 (hand-drawn!) revisions before we eventually settled on a design to submit to planning in January 2022. This was just in time for all planning applications in our area to be put on hold by new nutrient neutrality guidance issued by Natural England! After weeks of getting nowhere with the planning office and wondering whether we would be able to build our dream home at all, we took matters into our own hands and contacted Natural England. They quickly ascertained that our site should not be impacted by the guidance and planning gave us (and all the other applications that were on hold) the green light.


During that long stressful wait, we attended the Homebuilding Show in Harrogate where we came across several companies offering SIPs (structured insulated panels) builds. Having spent so long working out the design, we hadn’t given much thought as to what we were going to build it out of. But as our goal was to build an airtight sustainable property, SIPs seemed the obvious choice. It also came with the advantage of being a lot faster than other types of construction. We had to swap architects; this wasn’t an easy decision, but our original designer did all drawings by hand, which took time, and it was easier


mar/april 2024


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