Catalyst

So, we had the cabin idea, and after looking at the first plot and investigating the building process we soon had a fairly clear vision of the way forward. We met with Boligpartner, who are the company that basically control the process, from acquiring your plot to ending up with a finished cabin. We went to see a couple of cabins they had built and were very impressed with what they were doing.
By the end of 2017 we had decided that Vangsåsen was an ideal place to build. We liked the idea of getting a brand new cabin in the design we wanted. We were happy with the building contractor, and at around that time the local authority were just about to give planning permission for a new batch of plots. There was one issue left to resolve.... the financial plan. Whilst we felt that it was definitely possible to finance the project, we knew that this was probably going to impact us in terms of what cash we had available for holidays etc. This was difficult. We felt the cabin was an investment in family time, but we have always liked the freedom to travel to different places and have never skimped on our holidays. At more or less the same time as we were mulling this over, another event was about to resolve our problem.....

  Above is an aerial view of 12 North Lane, Haynes.... where I grew up.... and in December 2017, the orchard, where I used to kick a ball around in my childhood, was suddenly the answer to the missing piece of the cabin jigsaw. Mum was successful in a planning application that would allow for 2 houses to be built in the orchard, and she had very generously decided that Helen and I would get the chance to build one each. I had to think quite hard about what to do next because there is an emotional tie to the family home, but in the end the best solution for me was to sell my plot and use the funds to finance the cabin build.