Search for land is proving to be painful

Went to Scotland on holiday for 12 days and had a look around Caithness. It's the place to be and we found the dream land in the dream location at Roster, made an offer and lost it.
So we know we want to live in Caithness, but land prices seem to go up by the minute.
The land we made an offer on at Thrumster, before we even went to see it, was declined and the seller now wants offers over £60k instead of £40k. Ridiculous.
There is however freehold land of some 29 acres (12 hectare, 18 football pitches, 117334 sqm) at Mybster which is not on the open market.
We are waiting for a detailed plan as the land has some pylons and wires running above and below. If we can build a house 150m away from any wires we will consider buying it. There is a wind farm visible in close proximity with 21 turbines on one side and another one planned with 30 turbines slightly further away on the other side. The turbines don't bother us though.

House is sold

Our house is sold, we have moved and Kingsmead is history. I think it will take us a year to sort through the mess though... unless we let Ann do it. She'll get a skip or two and get rid of it in 2 days...

Caithness and Sutherland

House is going up for sale

Our house is going up for sale. Foster Corley Crew are going to put in on the market this week. Let's see what happens.
Hopefully this will push the project forward.

Cooker

We have decided on a cooker we like. It's this one, although we will probably have it in black. Much cheaper than Aga's and look even better. We like the idea of seeing the fire and seeing what is in the oven.

First estimates

After putting together a budget for the project I have started to get quotes for certain things. The first numbers are rolling in via email. My guessed budget is currently £50.000 above our comfortable budget, so I am hoping that some suppliers will prove me wrong and bring the budget down.
So far we have prices in for a range cooker, sewage system, wood burner and boiler, all of which come in slightly under budget. So far so good.
I am awaiting quotes from log home suppliers and then I need to sort the electricity stuff out and get quotes.

Temporary Accommodation

When the land is finally bought I will need some kind of temporary accommodation. Static caravans seem useful and comfortable, also spacious enough if other family members want to stay and are also cheap.
The only problem is the transport. There are companies who specialize in caravan transport, just need to get a quote for it.
Springfiel Caravan Sales, Skegness
Skegness Caravan Sales, Skegness

Drinking Water

As we need water of drinking quality we have to think about where it is coming from. It is possible to collect rainwater, of which there is plenty in Scotland, and run it through a UV filter to sterilize it. Sounds like a good system to me, seems to make sense and not too expensive. Here is a picture of how the system could work.

On Site Storage

We'll need some secure storage on site for tools and materials. The Container Man has a depot in Glasgow, sells used containers and can deliver. He is also on ebay.

Solid Fuel

Solid fuel for heating and hot water makes sense. We are unlikely to buy a plot with adjoining woodland, so we need to create our own for the future. TreeShop.co.uk seem to have most trees we would look for, so we should keep them in mind and put planting a woodland on the very top of our to do list.
Fast growing trees are poplar, alder and willow, whilst beech, oak and elm are better firewoods. Beech and poplar are easiest to split.
A list of firewood properties can be found here and here.
Wreford Ltd. supply just about every tree possible up to 6m height. Otherwise a Google Search should do the trick.

Interesting Plots

10.75 acres : O/O £125.000 : Black Isle
06.50 acres : O/O £22.000 : Spittal UNDER OFFER
21.00 acres : O/O £40.000 : Thrumster : map

Jobs

So we are serious about moving to Scotland? Well then, Ann will need a job. I have started the link list on the right hand side. There is a section for jobs.

Planning a layout

To maximize efficiency we need to build our house around the technologies we are using. I have started to search for a design that will fit but it seems difficult. I think we might have to design the layout ourself. I am thinking of a design where the main heat source is in the middle of the house. Living room, dining, and kitchen will be open plan. The front door needs to be shielded to keep the cold air out of the house, so a small hall with a door is needed. A fuel store would be handy and a little walk in closet for shoes and coats. We will need 4 bedrooms, an office area, a toilet/shower room and a main bathroom. Ideally we would have a guest room as well.
There are two options for the design, either a traditional one where the living space is downstairs and the bedrooms are upstairs or we keep the bedrooms downstairs of the corner of the house and just have a bathroom, office and guest room upstairs, or maybe a play room.

Round Logs - great stuff !

I came across the web page of Highland Log Homes and instantly fell in love with the idea of a log home made from handcrafted logs. What do you think? (Please use the comment feature underneath this post.)
I need to look into insulation properties of logs and panel systems next. Then a layout that will go with the heating systems we want to use. Although I am not sure about the heating system yet. A wood stove for the open plan living area seems to make sense but what about the bedrooms? I don't really want to install heating upstairs, although a heating source in the main bathroom will be needed for the comfort of the children. If we don't install heating in the bedrooms the children will need their own space downstairs. I think I much rather not install heating upstairs, it will make the bedrooms much more healthy to sleep in.
All this assuming we will build a 2-storey house, not a bungalow, but will we ?

What to do first?

Whilst looking for a building plot and sorting out finances, which can take months, I have started my research on the internet. Timber/log homes look fantastic and the vast range of manufacturers in different countries will help us to find the right one. Thinking about it, we can't really decide on a house if we don't know which technologies we will be using to create heat, hot water, electricity and drinking water. There are so many different possibilities out there, I am not sure what to start with.

I think it is quite clear that we want to heat the house with wood and also cook on it. Everything else seems fairly unclear right now, so I have started to look into heating with wood. I shall make a list of interesting links next. It will appear on the right hand side and I will add to it over the next years....

Watch this space.

Where to find building plots

National
http://www.uklanddirectory.org.uk
http://www.ebuild.co.uk
http://www.building-plot.org.uk
http://www.primelocation.com
http://www.rightmove.co.uk
http://www.ruralscene.co.uk
http://www.uklandsearch.co.uk

Regional
http://www.caithnessproperty.co.uk
http://www.croftsales.co.uk
http://www.macandmac.co.uk

Building Plot near John o'Groats

A building plot to consider. But do we really want to be that high up north? We need to define the area we want to live in and consider exactly what kind of land we need for the plans we have. If there are no services on the land then that means that we have to get the house sustainable from day 1 as we wouldn't want to spend money on connecting services we don't want to use a few years later. That certainly won't be easy with our tiny budget.

clipped from www.rightmove.co.uk

FEATURES

• Residential Building Plot
• Outline Planning
• Granted 10 January 2005
• Approx 2 Acres

*ELEYS LAND SALES* Residential building plot in Scotland with Outline Planning Permission granted 10 January 2005 for the erection of a dwellinghouse and installation of a sewage treatment plant in accordance with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency's guidance The plot extends to approximately 2 acres (subject to survey)

Building or buying - that is the question.

We are thinking about two options: Buying a house with land or building a house on a plot of land. If we buy a house we have to live with the structure and material of the house. No choices there. Looking at prices and areas we will also struggle with our very tight budget of £250.000 for the complete project. Building a house on a plot of land with give us many more options. We can choose the materials used, build it to optimize all aspect towards sustainability and best of all: it will be all our idea, from foundation to the top of the chimney.

After discussions about these options we have decided to purchase a building plot and build our very own house on it. That will make for a long journey...

The idea evolves

In 2006 we decided to move house to get away from the hectic life of a busy town, traffic noise, pollution and ever rising utility bills. We were dreaming of romantic nights by the log fire, opening the front door so see nothing but fields and trees and breathing in clean fresh air.
Knowing that this would be a long term project we set ourselves the goal to move into our very own sustainable house within the next 5 years. We also set ourselves the challenge to be utility bill free and own all of our house and land by the time we retire, which will be in around 20 years.

The idea of The Eco House Project was born.