Shropshire couple's self-build home up for national award
Building your own house may not seem like the cheap option to most couples struggling to get on the property ladder.
But Hannah Jones and Theo Hodnett have not just built a cottage cheaper than they could buy. They have also been nominated for a national award for the result.
The couple, who both work for Border Oak Construction in Kingsland, near Leominster, built their timer-framed cottage for just £122,000 in Richards Castle, near Ludlow – all thanks to a Shropshire Council scheme to encourage the building of affordable homes.
Now their new home has been shortlisted for house of the year, along with five others from across the country, by national magazine Build It.
Miss Jones, 25, a sales manager for Border Oak, said: "We didn't expect it at all. The house featured in Build It earlier in the year, and then we found out the editor thought it was a favourite for the Best Home award.
"It's really good, and really exciting for a scheme like this to be recognised as well."
The house is brick, with a slate roof, but has exposed wooden beams inside and a decorative wooden porch outside.
It is also eco-friendly, with a ground-source heat pump linked up to underfloor heating on both floors.
Hannah said: "We always wanted to have an eco home to cut down on bills and live as efficiently as possible. Eventually we want to have solar panels, too, so we can be nearly self-sufficient."
She said the Shropshire Council scheme made it easier for people to self-build by removing planning restrictions – as long as the applicants and the planned property meet certain criteria. The new build has to be an affordable home, and sold at 60 per cent of market price if the owners move out.
She said: "We could never have afforded to buy a house in the area. They are all valued at over £300,000.
"It has meant that we could build something really 'us' and really individual, and it's saved us a lot of money in the long run."
Mr Hodnett's parents and brother have both built their own homes under the same scheme, which was what inspired them to try themselves. Mr Hodnett's father also agreed to give them land that he owned to build on, she said.
Plans for the house were submitted in June 2010, but it was a long and complicated process before permission was granted in 2012.
Work started in May 2013 and to save money Miss Jones and Mr Hodnett, who is carpenter for Border Oak, did as much of the work as possible themselves.
