Finally, the photos you have all been waiting for!

The land in January after it had been cleared of the vines, trees and bushes. The path on the right is the access road to the house behind our plot.

17th February 2007: Alex the builder, and other builders, laying the concrete bricks of the foundations. We are trying to do our bit to stop global warming by building a passive house, and global warming is helping us by providing the warmest winter on record.

The king of the castle!

View of the street.

19th February 2007: Visited site with Mum (Hazel). The concrete has been poured into the foundation walls.

3rd March 2007: The main concrete slab has been poured.The rectangles on the left and at the back are for the outside storage areas/work room. The left side from back to front will be the kitchen, hall, downstairs bathroom and kitchenette of guest room, the middle will be the dining room, stairs and guest room, and the other half of the middle and the right-hand side, including the jutting out bit, will be the living room.

Other news

Following discussions with Bjorn, and based on the results of his research, we are going to go for solar panels and an electric boiler to provide our hot water needs. The heat pump option would be more expensive and complicated.

Following negotiations with the bank, we are going to use the route below to finance the rest of the house:
a. borrow a lump sum immediately using Maria’s (Peter’s Mum’s) flat as collateral (she agrees!)
b. invest this money into the house, and then get a valuation done. Our current mortgage on our flat will then be switched to the (unfinished) house (this will ensure that we continue to receive the state benefit each month)
c. sell the flat and invest the proceeds in the house
d. get another mortgage on the house to cover any extra costs