A man from Edinburgh has built a 'micro-house' at the bottom of his garden after watching YouTube videos.
Neil previously told Edinburgh Live that he expected to finish the build in summer 2022, but has admitted he 'made things more difficult' for himself and has just completed the exterior.
He took to TikTok and Instagram to share his journey under the handle Micro House Edinburgh, and explained how he didn't need planning permission as it has remained under specific dimensions and is labeled as an 'ancillary' building'. To save on costs, Neil has done everything himself, with some assistance from friends and his partner Louis.
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Speaking to Edinburgh Live, a year on from when he had the foundations placed, he has since built the micro-house, included a roof, with cladding, and is planning on putting a climbing wall on the side 'to jazz it up'.
On the inside, there will be full running electricity, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a workshop.
Neil said: "The interior still needs to be fitted, but I've more experience with that so it won't take me as long. But I've been learning everything from Youtube.
"The roof was the most complicated and challenging. There's no information about it on the internet, no videos, and I wanted to get slates that were interesting. The ones I got were over a hundred years old, they're second-hand so I had to shape them to fit on the house.
"So I had to just learn how to do that from snippets I found online."
Over lockdown, a lot of people got stuck into DIY projects and learned from Youtube, but Neil simply relied on Youtube, and one book, Building Construction Handbook by Roy Chudley and Roger Greeno, which has acted like a 'bible' for this project.
Now that it's all come together, he said: "I feel pretty happy. The outside is a bit boring though, I want to do something to spice it up. It's just a bit of canvas and then I can add details to it to make it more interesting.
"It's cost a lot more than I first anticipated! Initially, I thought £20-25k, but looking like I may hit £40-50k now."
The main issue the TikToker admitted to facing was getting a building warrant. It took a year for it to be granted and he emphasised the importance of having all the correct documents.
He said: "This is one thing that people don't normally understand is that a building warrant is much more difficult and comprehensive than planning. Planning is simple. In comparison to building, the building warrant is very, very difficult. You need a lot of documents to get it, and it's very difficult to stick by.
"That's the thing that took the longest. So before I even started building, it took almost a year to get building warrant. So that was to get the architect to draw diagrams and get a structural engineer to draw diagrams.
"And then to get all that approved by the council. That's the thing that took the longest. And that's the thing that I had no idea about, I had no experience. That was the thing that was quite daunting and took a long time."
For people in Scotland who are keen to do the same, the Edinburgh TikToker has been sharing his journey every step of the way on his TikTok Microhouseedinburgh and his plans on his website.
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