'It's just like Lego' - couple save £100k on home build

A COUPLE are saving more than £100,000 by building their own house - using polystyrene blocks instead of bricks.

- EMILY PHILLIPS

Hannah and Charlie alongside their house during construction

(Hannah Bird/SWNS)

Hannah Bird and her husband, Charlie, a professional golfer, both 26, bought the 0.25-acre plot of land in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, in June 2022 for £70,000.

They chose to build a home from scratch rather than buy a new-build property - with prices in their area starting at £375,000 for a two-bed on a new estate.

To avoid having to pay for £30,000 in labour costs, the pair did 80 per cent of the work themselves and opted for polystyrene blocks - called ICF (insulated concrete framework) - which slot together and are filled with concrete.

Their 140sq m home is around halfway through the building process - with the roof due to go on shortly and tunnelling for electricity and water almost complete.

Hannah estimates they will have saved £100,000 by doing the majority of the work themselves - and will be left with a two-bed, one-office detached home with a garage and eight parking spaces.

The expect to complete the building process and be able to move in in the summer of 2026.

Hannah, a travel blogger, from Burnham-on-Sea, said: “We originally always wanted to renovate but the renos in our area were £200,000 and had no roof.