A couple have saved around £100,000 by building their own house, but they’re using an unconventional material to do it.
Hannah Bird and her husband Charlie, both 26, purchased a quarter-acre plot of land in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, for £70,000 in June 2022.
Rather than opting for a prebuilt home, they decided to design and construct their own property, aiming to sidestep the hefty price tag of local new build estates, where comparable two-bedroom houses can start at £375,000.
They’ve completed the majority of the work themselves, avoiding around £30,000 in labour costs, and have utilised polystyrene blocks, known as Insulated Concrete Framework (ICF).
These blocks, which interlock like giant Lego bricks, are filled with concrete to create robust, well-insulated walls.
Now, two years of construction later, the couple are putting finishing touches to their property and preparing to move in.
It’s been a labour of love
The 140-square-metre home has taken two years to complete, with tunnelling for electricity and water taking months before building could even begin.
Before construction, the couple cleared the plot, put up fencing and improved access by replacing a narrow, unsuitable driveway with a recycled tarmac surface.
They also planted trees, bushes, and flowers.
Hannah estimates they’ve saved approximately £100,000 by handling about 80% of the building work.
The finished property features two bedrooms, a dedicated office space, a garage, and parking for eight vehicles.
Discovering the polystyrene blocks
Hannah, a travel blogger, explained: ‘We originally always wanted to renovate, but the renos in our area were £200k and had no roof.’
She added: ‘We did look at new builds, but they’re not for us.
‘We knew so many people with new builds whose stairs broke or pipes broke two weeks in.’
Visiting a building show in December 2023 proved pivotal, introducing them to suppliers specialising in ICF blocks.
The simplicity of the system impressed them: ‘It’s like Lego,’ Hannah said, adding, ‘It’s idiot proof.’
She explained that, ‘For what a bricklayer took a week to do, together we could do in an hour.’
In just a few days, they reached the damp-proof course (DPC) level.
Hannah says they sent their house plans off to the company that supplied the blocks to assess how many they would need, and a representative visited them on-site to run them through the process of fitting them.
She added: ‘We did scroll a lot on Instagram and TikTok because we were like, ‘are we doing this right?’
‘It seemed too easy to start with’.
Cost breakdown
Hannah estimates that the overall cost of building the home will be £190,000, broken down as follows:
- Land purchase: £70,000
- Plot preparation and groundwork: Around £18,000
- ICF structure, concrete, and steel: Around £40,000
- Roofing and windows: Around £22,000
- Plumbing, electrics, and heating: Around £18,000
- Internal finishes and fixtures: Around £22,000
The couple, who work as travel bloggers, have been living with Hannah’s parents in Burnham-on-Sea when they’re not sailing around the world.
Alongside the renovation, they’ve also been sharing their IVF journey with their 187,000 followers. Last month they announced their pregnancy, so they’d better finish off that flooring ASAP!
This article was originally published in November 2025 and has since been updated.
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