CASE STUDY


WHEEL OF GOOD FORTUNE


 young couple seeking their first home together in Cumbria brought in family help to maimise the benefits of a site that once housed a water mill, and on which now sits their four-bed property


TEXT LAURA SHADWELL IMAGES LUCY RAE


A


t the start of 2021, Tom Horner and Lucy Rae were keen to buy their first home together. Having previously bought a


small terrace property as a fier-upper to sell on rather than to live in, they were able to fund their net moe with the proceeds.


The couple had been to a number of house viewings to no avail. “We were getting a bit deated, we couldnt find any houses that we thought could be the one, eplains Lucy. t was shortly after that they stumbled upon “an affordable plot of land in gremont, in the west of Cumbria, near the coast.


t was tucked away down a lane, but a conenient fie minute walk to the shops, and the perfect place for this time in our lies, says Lucy. ts a small market town ust a short drie from the Lake District, close to work, friends and family. aing grown up in the area, they didnt hesitate, and  despite fierce competition  their


44 www.sbhonline.co.uk


offer was accepted in April 2021. Lucys parents were a big help, haing had first hand eperience with self-building, in fact completing a number of properties previously themseles, her father being a builder.  was brought up around the idea of self-builds being an option, comments Lucy. t meant that her dad, her uncle and Tom were able to handle the lions share of the actual building work.


ALL IN THE PLANNING Originally setting out to find a three bedroom property, changing their option to build from scratch allowed the couple to consider a four- bedroom design. oweer, says Lucy, it wouldnt be an oerly large property s its ust the two of us at the moment, we werent too fussed about a big house  we ust wanted something that would be affordable to build, and affordable to run.


may/jun 2023


HIGH POINT


“Working together with Tom and family members, and the location. – Lucy


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