[Strawbale] Mortgages on SB houses in the UK

Mon Jul 12 10:22:45 CEST 2010

Hi Neale,
In Bulgaria we were able to specify the bale size by asking the farmer to set his baler to the size we wanted, it didn't seem to be a problem at all. We used the sizes in Barbara Jones' book i.e. 900x450x350 and weighing between 16 and 20 kgs and bound with two tight strings. The only prob we had was that the farmers baling twine was not evenly set so our two strings were different tensions and one end was inclined to slip a bit. Good luck with your build.
Eileen

Eileen Sutherland 
  Bulgarian mob 0899896442     
UK mob 07857890805
www.hotnitsa.com

--- On Sat, 10/7/10, Neale Brickwood <neale.brickwood at googlemail...> wrote:

From: Neale Brickwood <neale.brickwood at googlemail...>
Subject: Re: [Strawbale] Mortgages on SB houses in the UK
To: "European strawbale building discussions" <strawbale at amper....muni.cz>
Date: Saturday, 10 July, 2010, 16:37

Also does anybody know if you can specify the bale size?

If not what is the standard size?

Thanks

Regards

Neale

neale.brickwood at googlemail...
07798854867

www.ikonland.com

Ikon Land and New Homes Limited
The coach House
2 hereford Road
Southsea
Portsmouth
PO5 2DH

On 9 Jul 2010, at 13:56, Derek Roff wrote:

> I suppose the success of this approach would vary by the laws and
> traditions in various countries, but it seems very risky to me.
> Insurance companies investigate all big claims, and routinely deny
> coverage to their clients, based on _their_ conclusions about whether
> the terms of the insurance agreement have been honored.  Calling a
> loadbearing strawbale building a "timber-frame" might convince a
> company to sell you an insurance policy, but that doesn't mean you
> would actually have any insurance coverage, in the case of a fire or
> other large insurance claim.
>
> If the insurance company denies a claim, the owner must take legal
> action to try and force them to pay.  That implies convincing a third
> (fourth, fifth) party that the terms of the insurance policy have
> been followed.  I think that would be very tough, in the scenario
> that Andrew describes.
>
> It seems to me that this approach allows the home owner to pay
> insurance premiums for no actual coverage.  Maybe some owners would
> be comfortable with this, if the presence of an insurance policy
> allows them to get a mortgage.  However, to pay insurance premiums
> for some number of years, when the insurance company is unlikely to
> pay a claim, seems imprudent to me.  Worse, both the insurance
> company and the company that issues the mortgage would seem to have
> solid ground for suing the homeowner for fraud, in the event that the
> house was lost, and the insurance company had been misled about the
> nature of construction.
>
> Instead of endorsing Chug's enthusiastic slogan of "Bale on", there
> is a significant risk that insurance and mortgage companies will have
> a strong reaction of "Bale NO".
>
> Derek
>
> Derek Roff
> Language Learning Center
> Ortega Hall 129, MSC03-2100
> University of New Mexico
> Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
> 505/277-7368, fax 505/277-3885
> Internet: derek at unm...
>
>
>>>
>
> Chug,
>
>
> No; as a description of load bearing method as insurance companies
> are nervous about straw as a load bearing building material.  This is
> not actually that much of a stretch of the imagination as assuming
> you are using a wooden base and wall plate with integral wooden posts
> for door  and window openings, then this timber is doing some
> structural work.
>
>
> regards
> Andrew
>
>
>
> __________________________________________________
> From: Chug <chug at strawbale-building....uk>
> To: European strawbale building discussions
> <strawbale at amper....muni.cz>
> Sent: Fri, 9 July, 2010 13:09:39
> Subject: Re: [Strawbale] Mortgages on SB houses in the UK
>
> Andrew,
>
> I take it you mean as a description for post and beam and not
> loadbearing as
> you wrote?
>
> and Neale
> I thought you were asking about experience in selling a SB house, but
> if
> it's just a mortgage you are looking for Ecology BS as mentioned, and
> Virgin, and Triodos, but I don't think they will go up to 100%,
> although I
> think they could be persuaded.
>
> bale on
> Chug
> chug at strawbale-building....uk
> http://www.strawbale-building.co.uk
> .
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Andrew Wilkinson" <wilkospeak at yahoo....uk>
> To: "European strawbale building discussions"
> <strawbale at amper....muni.cz>
> Sent: Friday, July 09, 2010 12:25 PM
> Subject: Re: [Strawbale] Mortgages on SB houses in the UK
>
>
> Neale,
>
> I am currently working on two newbuilds in Yorkshire.  Whilst I don't
> have
> any
> direct experience of Open Market sales, I am aware that a main
> financier of
> such
> mortgages would be the Ecology Building Society.  I am also aware
> that in
> the
> recent past , those seeking to insure their houses have referred to
> straw
> bale
> load bearing houses as "timber frame with cellulose insulation" to
> overcome
> insurance company concerns.
>
> regards
> Andrew
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Neale Brickwood <neale.brickwood at googlemail...>
> To: Strawbale at amper....muni.cz
> Sent: Fri, 9 July, 2010 13:21:12
> Subject: [Strawbale] Mortgages on SB houses in the UK
>
> Hi
>
> I'm researching SB housing in the UK and am trying to find out if any
> have been built for sale on the open market and if so what the
> purchasers experiences were in mortgaging the property and who the
> lenders were
>
> If anyone can help it would be much appreciated
>
> Regards
>
> Neale
>
> neale.brickwood at googlemail...
> 07798854867
>
> www.ikonland.com
>
> Ikon Land and New Homes Limited
> The coach House
> 2 hereford Road
> Southsea
> Portsmouth
> PO5 2DH
>
> ____________________________________________________
>  European strawbale building discussion list
>
> Send all messages to:
> Strawbale at amper....muni.cz
>
> Archives, subscription options, etc:
> http://amper.ped.muni.cz/mailman/listinfo/strawbale
> ____________________________________________________
>
>
>
>
> ____________________________________________________
>  European strawbale building discussion list
>
> Send all messages to:
> Strawbale at amper....muni.cz
>
> Archives, subscription options, etc:
> http://amper.ped.muni.cz/mailman/listinfo/strawbale
> ____________________________________________________
>
>

____________________________________________________
    European strawbale building discussion list

Send all messages to:
Strawbale at amper....muni.cz

Archives, subscription options, etc:
http://amper.ped.muni.cz/mailman/listinfo/strawbale
____________________________________________________

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://amper.ped.muni.cz/pipermail/strawbale/attachments/20100712/34666747/attachment-0001.html>