Thrifty couple spend just £27,000 building three-bedroom family house out of recycled materials, hay bales and sheep’s wool

A COUPLE with a fantasy of living off the land with their children have managed to build their dream home after starting the project with just £500 in the bank.

Simon and Jasmine Dale later managed to save up £27,000 to put towards the final build and are featured in this week's Grand Designs for their ingenuity.

The pair built a three-bedroom eco house in the sustainable Lammas community in Pembrokshire.

In order to move into the community they had to prove they could fulfil a strict planning condition.

To be able to build on the open farmland, they had to show they could become self-sufficient within their seven acre plot within five years or be forced to move on.

Presenter Kevin McCloud spoke to Simon ahead of the building work about how he planned to live sustainability and with the land.

He told Kevin how he planned to dig 12 feet into the hillside and build a wall along the back using sandbags filled with the dirt.

Simon planned to use timber poles he cut himself to give the home a structure, and compacted earth to make flooring.

Reclaimed glass would be used for the windows and for insulation Simon used sheep's wool, grass and straw bales.

At the front of the house the couple decided to install a greenhouse to preheat air for the house and grown food.

Kitchen fixtures and other furniture was sourced from car boot sales and eBay.

After hearing the couple's plans, Kevin said: "This won't be a cramped hobbit house, but a spacious, solid, three bed, low impact family home."

At the start of the project Simon admitted they did not have very much money for the built.

He told Kevin: "At the moment in the bank we've got five hundred-ish. We've got a few bits to come in along the way. But I think with a will we're going to get there."

The project got off to a slow start as bad weather in 2012 meant they were faced with a wet winter, and Simon had hoped to have the family in the house by October 2013.

Part of the conditions of living in the community are the setting up of a small business and the delays in building meant Jasmine's plans to create a smallholding growing vegetables were being affected.

So they put the building on hold and concentrated on setting up the business, but by August 2014 they were making progress.

Through horticultural courses and by selling produce they were able to add to they kitty.

Four years on they are now settled into the family home, and the couple thinks they have spent £27,000 on the build.

Kevin described this as "the cheapest house ever built in the Western Hemisphere".

Simon said: "I don;t think I could quantify it, but I can feel it in my heart when I walk around at the end of the day and see the bats flying round and hear the birds sing.

"It's been hard and I wasn't asking for an easy life. I like challenge.

"To put in a hard day's graft and be tired at the end of the day. That exhaustion is a nice feeling."

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368.