Log cabin on own land

Doxylox

Myself and husband have found ourselves at a crossroads with remortgage coming up next year and if interest rates are in a similar state we will struggle to pay the mortgage. We are gutted and desperate to retain some of the lifestyle we have worked so hard to achieve living detached in the countryside.

Were not even that hard up in terms of salaries in the grand scheme of things! My husband started up a forestry business a few months ago and I am in the NHS part time. We have a 1 year old daughter and need to pay childcare for me to work. After paying off mortgage we estimated that we would be left with 200 000.

My husband is the dreamer of the two and has the idea in his head of buying some land, getting planning and living in a large log cabin. I love the idea of not dealing with the stress of having to pay a mortgage but looking at the practicalities it seems impossible even with 200 000.

Is there anyone else out there with experience of doing this? Or advice about getting permission? Anything welcome I am overwhelmed with where to start and find out whether its an option. 

RAS

What price is land with PP in your area? Anything less that £100k for a plot?

fatbelly

All you need to do is to balance income and expenditure where you are.

You don't need to thinking about living in a log cabin in a forest.

The debt-free wannabe board is full of people who are struggling/about to struggle/think they will soon struggle because of massive hikes in a fixed mortgage.

We are getting used to helping people see the wood from the trees. Pop on over

ThisIsWeird

A habitable cabin in t'woods will almost certainly come with all the caveats and requirements of normal properties - sewage, council tax, planning, building control.

gwynlas

There are a number of self build options besides log cabins including repurposed shipping containers examples of which are on line. The problem you will face is planning permission, you need a building plot.  and then building control. Finding a plot in the area that you wish to be might be the stumbling block. There are still arreas of the country where you could easily be mortgage free but that might mean moving to facilitate this.

bouicca21

OP’s husband is not a dreamer, he’s a fantasist.  If they can’t downsize and live mortgage free in the current area, then there is no way they will be able to afford land, get planning permission and build somewhere suitable unless they want to go seriously off grid.  As a survivor of Thatcher’s 15% interest rate,  I’d say the reality is to start looking now for ways to shave the budget.  Debt free wannabe board is where to start.

user1977

fatbelly said:

We are getting used to helping people see the wood from the trees.

Which gets particularly complex if you're in a log cabin...

OP, why specifically a log cabin rather than some other form of construction? I don't think they're particularly mortgageable (which might not be a concern if you have enough cash, but would be if a buyer needs a mortgage).

Mstty

It's a lovely dream but dare I say it not realistic in the UK.

sheramber

'buying some land' 

Where would he intending buying this land?

Not all land is suitable or available for building on.

Tell him to research  the practicalities of his idea and let him  find out for himself if it is achievable.

Is he intending buying s ready kit or building from scratch?

Who would do the build?

What about services- water, electricity, etc  Random plots in the country would probably not have these already.

It  takes time to prepare the plot and build. Where would you live while that happened?



It is possible to buy a plot in rural crofting areas ( there is often a derelict building there so some services are available) and get planning permission to build something that would fit in with the surroundings. That would not necessarily be a log cabin. 


But that may not be an area where you want to live.

Rural properties have become popular since working from home became possible and prices in these areas have increased.

 

TBagpuss

I think your husband would need to do a lot of research, but I suspect his idea would not be tenable - you'd need to be able to pay for the land and the build costs, you'd need planning permission (and would probably need to get permission for change of use, if you were building on agricultural or forest land) You would need to be able to afford to pay for somewhere to live while you did all the work.

If you have until next year, I'd agree with those suggesting that you look at where you can cut your budget - it may also be worth looking at options with regard to the mortgage. For instance, if a big part of the current squeeze s child care costs, it may be worth looking into whether you could remortgage over a longer period of time or with n interest only or partially interest only mortgage, to reduce your monthly payments in the short term. Ideally this would be with a firm plan to start overpaying / putting money into savings to pay off the capital, once your child starts school and child care costs reduce.

Are there any other possibilities? Would you have space for a lodger, for instance? 

babyblade41

We are renovating a barn on my MIL's land which she gifted to my husband so land is free as such.

We have no mains gas or mains sewage .The barn is a re-furb not a knock down and re-build and also has a water supply and electric , we are up to 350k so far , and although in Oxfordshire, this is a 2 bed bungalow with open plan living area so nothing fancy. 

We did look at the log cabin route and to get a decent one it would have cost 250k for the unit, we had to do all the ground work and connections to mains water etc plus planning and everything that goes with it... it made sense to re-furb the barn long term 

200k to include land purchase would probably give you a very nice marquee