Hi everyone,

Been busy a few days, and looks like the forum's got a bunch of new posts. Nice one. Anyway, looks like I'll be in Bristol from the 16th, 17th, and 18th. I can also stay a bit longer if necessary. I'd love to arrange a little gathering if possible. I have Jackson and Tom's numbers. I'll try to give you two a ring tomorrow. I don't know if Gerrian is close to Bristol, but it would be nice to get some Architectural expertise. James, Southville is close to Bristol right? or am i way off?

Anyway, hopefully we can get a meet set up. Maybe we can post a time, date, and a pub to post on the forum for other viewers to show up. Food for thought...

Okay, so... Jackson, Tom, James and I have decided to meet up. If anyone else catches this thread on the forum and wants too meet up, here are the details:

Saturday, Feb. 16th
1pm at the Tobacco Factory, in Bristol.

For a link to a map: CLICK HERE

All are welcome...

See you there

Hey. Great to meet up on Saturday.

We pretty much went through different peoples objectives and desires, and really just making contact.

There is a focus to keep an eye out for small pieces of land in and around Bristol, and to start scoping out land prices in relation to area, local amenities and condition of site.

We are also going to start producing a basic criteria for any site, which self builders will need to sign up to to be part of the development. Such as minimum level for the sustainable design of the buildings.

Selim is looking into how Plymouth City Council supports self build in their area.

Next stage is work on a financial plan, how to get the first development rolling. So anyone with previous experience of such issues greatly welcome to drop a line.

Congratulations James, amazing news. Preparing your construction team already, good work.

Hi all,
I just tried to post something but it disappeared - so briefly; we would like to get in contact with people interested in selfbuild in the Bristol area, we (me and my partner James) have been looking for a house to buy but it seems crazy to pay so much for it, and then on top for all the changes we would want to do to get a low energy & solar powered place. We would really like to be part of a selfbuild project also for the sake of a healthy community, but won't be able to do the whole build ourselves since we both work full-time. Would be good to hear ideas & experiences?
Soili
P.S. We already know Tom and Jackson!

Hi Soili,

It's been a hectic couple of months, but hopefully we're on our way to teaming up for a self build in bristol. I will be going to the US for 2 months to sort out my visa and deal with the financial stuff to get this build going. If you know Jackson, it'd be great to talk to him in person about how we might be able to team up. I'll be getting married in September, so I'd like to start building as soon as October. More likely, we'll still be hunting for land, but I'd like to talk to anyone working around these time frames. In any case, I'd love to be part of a group that pulled the first successful build from this website... and it's not even 6 months old...

Hi Soili

The forum has a time element for being logged in for security purposes, and I have fallen foul of losing everything I have written as I have nipped off to make a tea in the middle.

So, for all, if you do write anything its worth doing a quick highlight all and copy to clipboard before you press SUBMIT....just in case.
Then if you have been logged out, its not so bad logging back in and pasting your edit.

Soili, your situation is one of most people. Working, difficult financially to buy an existing house, and frustrated with high heating bills and still have a cold home over winter.

So there are a number of routes. One is to allocate evening and weekend time in a a complete self build....which is hardwork, physically and emotionally, but the cheapest. The other route would be to be part of a project where you could self-finish a home. This would give you a watertight, insulated unit which you could detail and spec the internal to your own wishes, and the more of the internal work you do the cheaper the spend, but saves you the hard work of getting to a watertight stage.
We are hoping to have a balance of self build and self finish in the first project in Bristol. Obviously this depends on size of site we find.

If other people have suggestions for Soili, throw them in the pot.