Ashley Vale Action Group

Self-building

Why self-build?

By self-building people can create the home of their dreams. Ideas about just how to arrange living, working and sleeping space can be developed to exactly suit a family's needs. Or self-building can offer people a chance to create a wierd and wacky home. Whatever the particular fantasy, self-building allows it to become a reality.

As well as meeting individual needs, self-building can also be sensitive to the needs of the environment. A dream home can also be an eco-home. A self-build house can make the most of the resources and structures already on the site and can be built using only sustainable materials such as wood. When houses are planned by the people who will actually live in them, it's possible to respond to the social and ecological setting and by thinking ahead to how they will use the house, self-builders can minimise energy use and maximise waste recycling. By 'doing it yourself' instead of buying a ready-made mass-produced house, self-builders regain control over the design of their living space for both themselves and the surrounding community.

And of course, self-building can lead to houses that are not just good to live in, but look good too.

Who can self-build?

Anyone. Not all our self-builders have experience in building design or construction to self-build. And with house prices rising steeply, self-building offers an affordable alternative to buying an existing house. A timber-framed self-build house need not cost too much to construct and it doesn't even take very long to get the 'shell' of the house in place.

By taking part in a community-based self-build project, self-builders are able share experiences with each other. And helping each other with the house building also helps build a real sense of community.