We had our eye on two sites now, one owned by the church, the other by the local council but at this point there was a major obstacle to development. This was interesting. There was a little cul-de-sac Lewis Close and both the church plot and council plot seemed to have ready access off it. … More Landlocked!
Having tracked down the Disposals and Acquisitions Manager at Enfield Council, I gave him a call. I am not sure what I was expecting, but to my surprise he was an accessible man, warm, friendly and straight talking. I explained the Right to Build and our desire to remain in the local area, which he deemed … More Pursuing the Council plot
Every so often I go to the local church toddler group, and sitting round the table with my youngest on my lap the conversation turned to our housing situation. I’d plucked up the courage to discuss our hope of building, even though I was a bit nervous about discussing looking for land in London, as … More A possibility emerges
It had been difficult getting to meet the Enfield Development Manager in the first place, and getting a post-meeting response was not much easier. I eventually secured one by copying in our local MP, and when it came it was a full and considered response. It included the contact for the Right to Build in the … More From Planning to Property
So we were under way – our adventure had begun! We were stepping into the dark and I found myself enjoying the process. There was excitement in the chase, especially using a piece of legislation that neither we nor those we talked to really knew how it worked. We were making it up as we went along, and … More Economics with Justice – the land value
Meanwhile, my father in law had taken interest in our project and had subscribed to Homebuilding and Renovating Magazine. One of the Homebuilding & Renovating shows was coming up at Birmingham in March 2017 and he suggested we go. A train journey spent planning and we had a full day mapped out, starting with ‘A Beginner’s Guide … More Meeting the Self Build community
March 2017 Getting to speak to Enfield’s Head of Development Management was no easy task. I left several messages and emails. No response. I took some encouragement from listening to how Jamie Oliver got his breakthrough into the River Cafe. He rang every day trying to speak to Ruth Rogers leaving messages until one day … More Keep calling and you will be answered
My local MP at the time Mr David Burrowes knew little about the Right to Build legislation but said he would try to find out how it could be effective. He believed the local authority would be unlikely to want to help and would want to sell Amy Council land at the highest price for … More Searching for Land
Our prospects were bleak, but while standing in the tiny house looking at the dismal surroundings I had a change of heart and a spurt of determination. Peter had encouraged me to look at building our own house, and I’d talked to a few friends and looked at a few auction sites but had never really taken … More The Right to Build
“You won’t get another fantastic opportunity like this at this price… It will be gone in days,” went the estate agent’s pitch. The fantastic opportunity was a tiny ex-local authority 2-up-2-down terraced house with a loft extension, in an estate that would have been nice apart from the unkempt gardens, rubbish in the driveways and … More The Turning Point
Diary of a Wannabe Self Builder 