At a time of inflated house prices and soaring mortgages rates, building your own property might seem a distant prospect for would-be homeowners, but one architect believes it could be a solution to the housing crisis.
John Kinsley is an advocate of ‘collective custom build’, a model that cuts developers out of new properties, allowing buyers to create their own homes for less money than if they were buying on the housing market.
Based in Edinburgh, Mr Kinsley, along with his wife and three other investors, clubbed together to create an eco-friendly tenement comprising of four modern, three-bedroom apartments designed around one core stairwell in the Portobello area of the city.
Inspired by the German concept of ‘Baugruppen’ – which literally translates to ‘group build’ – interested purchasers come together to collectively fund their own multi-unit housing project, thus bypassing profit-seeking middlemen, and saving thousands of pounds in the process.
At a time of inflated house prices and soaring mortgages rates, building your own property might seem a distant prospect for would-be homeowners, but one architect believes it could be a solution to the housing crisis. One architect was able to spot an opportunity to build on dilapidated land and create a multi-storey tenement for far below the inflated market cost
John Kinsley is an advocate of ‘collective custom build’, a model that cuts developers out of new properties, allowing buyers to create their own homes for less money than if they were buying on the housing market. Based in Edinburgh, Mr Kinsley, along with his wife (pictured together outside of thier home) and three other investors, clubbed together to create an eco-friendly tenement comprising of four modern, three-bedroom apartments designed around one core stairwell
The modern property blends in with more traditional neighbouring houses in the Portobello area of Edinburgh
Inspired by the German concept of ‘Baugruppen’ – which literally translates to ‘group build’ – interested purchasers come together to collectively fund their own multi-unit housing project, thus bypassing profit-seeking middlemen, and saving thousands in the process. Pictures show the speed their home was built, compared to conventional bricks and mortar
Based in Edinburgh, Mr Kinsley (pictured with his wife Jenny, a garden designer and sculptor) put his money where his mouth is, and along with three other investors, created an eco-friendly tenement comprising of four modern three-bedroom apartments designed around one core stairwell. The living space, pictured, offers high ceilings and an abundance of light
The idea is that parties pool their resources, purchase land and hire an architect to design their dream home. Then, by going direct to their chosen building firm, the group avoid purchasing directly from an inflated sellers-market. Pictured is one of the bedrooms with large double windows and high ceilings
Mr Kinsley explained: ‘In Germany, where local authorities are required to offer publicly owned land for sale to community groups before allowing developers to bid, it is a much more common approach. One in ten new homes in Berlin are procured this way. In the last five years, hundreds of schemes have been built there providing thousands of new homes’ (pictured is Mr Kinsley’s kitchen)
In pursuing a collective custom build, the idea is that parties pool their resources, purchase land and hire an architect to design their dream home.
Then, by going direct to their chosen building firm, the group avoid purchasing directly from an inflated sellers-market.
Mr Kinsley explained: ‘In Germany, where local authorities are required to offer publicly owned land for sale to community groups before allowing developers to bid, it is a much more common approach.
‘One in ten new homes in Berlin are procured this way. In the last five years, hundreds of schemes have been built there providing thousands of new homes.’
Awash with natural light, high ceilings and spacious living rooms, the apartments are a far cry from the cramped former council houses saturating the rental market. Mr Kinsley says in total the whole project including the plot, building materials and fees was £1.2million, split between the four owners who were able to tailor furnishings to their own tastes
Sharing the property with his wife Jenny, a garden designer and sculptor, and their two children the family believe they are highlighting an innovative way of owning a high quality home without the burden of a large mortgage
Explaining how the project came together, Mr Kinsley said: ‘There was a strip of wasteland between a tenement block and a Georgian townhouse that had lain empty for years. There used to be a cinema there, then a warehouse, but by this time it was a deserted muddy eyesore’
Awash with natural light, high ceilings and spacious living rooms, the apartments are a far cry from the cramped former council houses saturating the rental market.
Mr Kinsley says in total the whole project including the plot, building materials and fees was £1.2million, split between the four owners who were able to tailor furnishings to their own tastes.
Sharing the property with his wife Jenny, a garden designer and sculptor, and their two children the family believe they are highlighting an innovative way of owning a high quality home without the burden of a large mortgage.
Explaining how the project came together, Mr Kinsley said: ‘There was a strip of wasteland between a tenement block and a Georgian townhouse that had lain empty for years. There used to be a cinema there, then a warehouse, but by this time it was a deserted muddy eyesore.
‘I was living in the next street and was aware of the fact that the plot was vacant, and had been for a while. The owner at that time had been sitting on the land for a while and was happy to consider selling.
‘I had seen an article about building collectively in South America and was intrigued by the idea and the plot lent itself well to that approach.’
Mr Kinsley: ‘I was living in the next street and was aware of the fact that the plot was vacant, and had been for a while. The owner at that time had been sitting on the land for a while and was happy to consider selling. I had seen an article about building collectively in South America and was intrigued by the idea and the plot lent itself well to that approach’
Built predominantly of cross-laminated timber panels, a durable material that allows rapid construction, the entire structure was put up in nine days by a local building firm. The timber wall and floor panels were slotted together to form the property’s skeleton with the central stairwell supporting the whole building, while triple-glazed windows were fitted for extra insulation
In 2013 he put a notice on the town website where he invited local residents to a meeting to explain the concept of collective custom build. Around two dozen turned up and over the next few months as they discussed the plan some more, a core group formed. The group called in a financial expert to work out how they could pool their funds and eventually bought the plot for £250,000, subject to planning approval
Built predominantly of cross-laminated timber panels, a durable material that allows rapid construction, the entire structure was put up in nine days by a local building firm.
The timber wall and floor panels were slotted together to form the property’s skeleton with the central stairwell supporting the whole building, while triple-glazed windows were fitted for extra insulation.
In 2013 he put a notice on the town website where he invited local residents to a meeting to explain the concept of collective custom build.
Around two dozen turned up and over the next few months as they discussed the plan some more, a core group formed.
The group called in a financial expert to work out how they could pool their funds and eventually bought the plot for £250,000, subject to planning approval.
Mr Kinsley explained: ‘We worked hard to get both neighbours and the local planning authority on board before we made a formal planning application, so the process itself went quite smoothly. One of the most time consuming areas was that the four families involved had to constitute ourselves as a single entity in order to borrow the finance to build and there weren’t any lawyers around with the experience of doing that type of work, so we were having to do things like writing articles of association from scratch’
The couple’s two sons occupy two rooms, and they share a bathroom which can be access via their own front door. Mr Kinsley explained that eventually their rooms and bathroom could be annexed to create an entirely separate flat, once they’re old enough to want more privacy. It gives us flexibility to change things in the years to come,’ he explained
He explained: ‘We worked hard to get both neighbours and the local planning authority on board before we made a formal planning application, so the process itself went quite smoothly.
‘One of the most time consuming areas was that the four families involved had to constitute ourselves as a single entity in order to borrow the finance to build and there weren’t any lawyers around with the experience of doing that type of work, so we were having to do things like writing articles of association from scratch.’
The couple’s two sons occupy two rooms, and they share a bathroom which can be access via their own front door.
Mr Kinsley explained that eventually their rooms and bathroom could be annexed to create an entirely separate flat, once they’re old enough to want more privacy.
While Mr Kinsley acknowledges that on its own ‘collective custom build’ isn’t a solution to the housing, he says it should certainly form part of the mix. Going forward, his own apartment was recently valued at £500,000, meaning if he wanted to sell up he could walk away with £200,000 profit, almost enough to fund his share of another tenement
The Kinsleys urge those in a position to get on to the property ladder to consider the ‘collective custom build’ model – the tenements offer greater control over the end product, an energy friendly alternative to traditional housing and crucially significantly more bang for your buck compared to old fashioned bricks and mortar
‘It gives us flexibility to change things in the years to come,’ he explained.
While Mr Kinsley acknowledges that on its own ‘collective custom build’ isn’t a solution to the housing, he says it should certainly form part of the mix.
Going forward, his own apartment was recently valued at £500,000, meaning if he wanted to sell up he could walk away with £200,000 profit, almost enough to fund his share of another tenement.
And he urges those in a position to get on to the property ladder to consider the ‘collective custom build’ model – the tenements offer greater control over the end product, an energy friendly alternative to traditional housing and crucially significantly more bang for your buck compared to old fashioned bricks and mortar.