Michael Buck, from Oxford, brought controversy and nostalgia to the media recently when it emerged that he had nearly finished constructing his new house out of Cob, apparently costing only £150. The materials used in the construction of Cob are earth, clay and, yes, cow dung and coupled with a thatched roof, make a robust building with these methods being used for centuries. In a bid to demonstrate that the building can be built without any power tools or mortgage, he set about building the property using windscreen, discarded floorboards and a wood burning stove for heat. There is a snag however as he does already own the land that he built the property on, but the former art teacher was quoted as saying in the Metro that ‘There is this idea that people must spend their lives paying the mortgage. I want to challenge that’.

The question of insurance would need to be met. Cheap thatched property insurance is a factor but those constructed of cob, wattle and daub and other traditional methods are readily available. Whilst the property would be empty, there would be a potential issue in terms of security as many cheap empty property insurance policies have minimum protection endorsements including key operated window locks! Somewhat difficult to apply to windows and screens taken from commercial vehicles.