Hutting ideas

[Crofter]

I'm feeling another project coming on.

 

Ten years ago the Scottish Government defined a 'hut' as a small (30m² or less) building designed for intermittent/temporary recreational habitation, built using low impact materials and designs, generally assumed to be off grid and at the end of life removable leaving little trace on its site.

They are not subject to building regulations but you do need planning. It's up to individual local authorities to grant planning for huts as they see fit, but the SG was certainly trying to encourage more of them to be built.

 

 

Anyway. We've got a lovely piece of land up the back behind the house, it's just very rough heather but there's a good view and it's very peaceful up there. I really fancy putting up a hut, entirely for our own use. In the height of summer we could spend short spells up there while renting out our own house, or it could be overspill for when family come to stay. And it would be a great place to get away and indulge in some 'me time', play the guitar, do a spot of writing...

 

I know @Tennentslager has built a hut, but that was on an established site and in a different local authority. I can't find any sort of policy from Highland Council about hutting.

 

Anybody on here have any experience or advice?

 

My proposed site is well outside of the normal building line. It would be a five minute walk up a steep field to reach the hut- zero possibility of vehicle access, which is kind of the point for me. Everything will have to be carried on to the site so no concrete or masonry of any kind.

 

I'd like to design something that blends in to the landscape as much as possible. A turf/heather roof is almost a given, and timber and/or corrugated iron for the walls. I'm wondering if the windows can be set at a slight angle to prevent them from creating obvious reflections.

 

I think my main constraint might be height. I want this hut to sit low to the ground, but all the best small house designs tend to use sleeping platforms. I love the idea of them, but it's pretty hard to wedge in a bed on top of another useable space without the whole thing getting too tall.

 

Any advice, experience, or encouragement welcome!

[Pocster]

Hut a.k.a sex dungeon 

[mike2016]

Sounds more like a Yurt in suitable to me?! Or a metal insulated shed than can be assembled on blocks. Timber is the obvious material but is there a kit form you can get from someone or just stick build it yourself? The only issue with low to the ground is damp, water ingress if it's on a slope etc. Drainage is going to be key. Ideally I'd sit it on a few groundscrews, at least the screws and machine to drill them in are light enough to be carried, build on top of them from there! Best of luck!! 

[Crofter]

Stick build on site is probably the way I'll go. I could make up panels down at my shed and carry them up, but they'd have to be pretty small or else they'll be too heavy to carry. So it may not be worth it. There's some very steep and narrow sections on the path.

 

I like the idea of DIY borax treated sheep's wool for insulation, and using as much reclaimed and secondhand material as I can.

It's basically all the things I wanted to do with the cottage (see profile pic) but was too afraid or constrained to actually do. But because this is entirely for our own use we can build it exactly the way we want. We've also spent the last three years living on a 39ft sailing boat so we're very used to compact spaces and how they work.

 

Shouldn't be any problems with damp if we build on bearers. The ground itself is pretty rocky, with a very shallow layer of soil, and a steep slope.

[ProDave]

@Crofter as your  name suggests you are on a croft are you not?

 

I have been told several times that it is generally accepted a Croft can have 3 "caravans" on it.  I don't know if that means without planning permission, or that is is expected that planning will be granted.

 

If that is the case, your "hut" could be built under the caravan rules that you are familliar with, which would actually allow a larger hut than 30 square metres.

 

 

[Crofter]

1 hour ago, ProDave said:

@Crofter as your  name suggests you are on a croft are you not?

 

I have been told several times that it is generally accepted a Croft can have 3 "caravans" on it.  I don't know if that means without planning permission, or that is is expected that planning will be granted.

 

If that is the case, your "hut" could be built under the caravan rules that you are familliar with, which would actually allow a larger hut than 30 square metres.

 

 

Yes it's an owner occupied croft. I'd forgotten about the three caravans provision- I'll need to look up the details on that, there might be something useful there.

 

I highly doubt that I would get planning permission for any sort of conventional house in this location, so I think the hutting approach, which ought to be a bit more lenient on planning, is the way to go. 

 

I doubt I'll actually go as large as 30m², I don't think it's necessary and I want this to be a pretty simple, fast, and cheap project. Having to carry everything on to site by hand up a steep hill will definitely put a limit on how big I want to go!

 

It's a shame that Highland Council are now charging nearly a grand for planning. That's a pretty big dent in the budget 😞

[Jenki]

On 05/04/2024 at 18:16, ProDave said:

I have been told several times that it is generally accepted a Croft can have 3 "caravans" on it.  I don't know if that means without planning permission, or that is is expected that planning will be granted

 

I was just reading this thinking the same thing but as far as I can remember the 3 caravans are given as a form of PD, and have dates associated  X month to September for Touring caravans.

I think a full time hut would stretch the PD.😔

[Iceverge]

 

How about this.

 

[Crofter]

15 hours ago, Jenki said:

 

I was just reading this thinking the same thing but as far as I can remember the 3 caravans are given as a form of PD, and have dates associated  X month to September for Touring caravans.

I think a full time hut would stretch the PD.😔

 

The '3 caravans' allowance probably isn't going to help me much. I don't know if there are restrictions on who can stay in the 'van or for how long, other than the April to September limit, which would actually be ok for us.

The main problem for us is that whatever we put on the site is going to have to stay there. I've made a rough footpath up the hill but it's hard to get as much as a wheelbarrow up it.

 

I'm currently leaning towards the idea of a 12m² ground mount solar array (within PD) and then boxing it in. A bit smaller than I'd ideally like but I could make it work.

[ProDave]

19 minutes ago, Crofter said:

I'm currently leaning towards the idea of a 12m² ground mount solar array (within PD) and then boxing it in. A bit smaller than I'd ideally like but I could make it work.

 

That started just as a ground mount PV, then I thought it would be madness not to enclose the sides.  It is only as a rough storage shed in this case, firewood, bikes, and things like cement mixer etc.  Just a load of pallets for the floor.  If I was going to make it as a proper shed / hut I would make it a bit higher, and build the shed but a lot lot better.

[Crofter]

41 minutes ago, ProDave said:

 

That started just as a ground mount PV, then I thought it would be madness not to enclose the sides.  It is only as a rough storage shed in this case, firewood, bikes, and things like cement mixer etc.  Just a load of pallets for the floor.  If I was going to make it as a proper shed / hut I would make it a bit higher, and build the shed but a lot lot better.

That looks very handy.

Did you have a height limit for the PV?

[ProDave]

4 minutes ago, Crofter said:

That looks very handy.

Did you have a height limit for the PV?

No, it was merely shown on the planning as "ground mount solar PV" and that is what I built, with no design input. I just put some poles in the ground and started bolting bits of framing to them and that is how it turned out.  Standing room in the middle but it gets a bit low in the eaves.

[Iceverge]

7 hours ago, ProDave said:

 

That started just as a ground mount PV, then I thought it would be madness not to enclose the sides.  It is only as a rough storage shed in this case, firewood, bikes, and things like cement mixer etc.  Just a load of pallets for the floor.  If I was going to make it as a proper shed / hut I would make it a bit higher, and build the shed but a lot lot better.

 

It's an elegant structure that.