With the cheapest houses in the UK being around $400,000 USD , this project has a lot of merit,
but the design is not new , it was the orignal crofters cottage
from way back in history , also I doubt that price included the land cost , curently in my area around $3 million USD an acre ,


lol just checked out rental prices localy, $3,500 USD  per month
secures a 2 bedroomed terrace house , My first house cost me
$ 7,000 usd back in the 70's , it sold last year for $800,000 usd ,
I guess that inflation and the lack of land in the UK , but I feel sorry for the young kids today , we have sold their future for a handfull of $$$$$

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/7275312.stm

BTW ,  As Mark Twain famously remarked, 'Buy land - they're not making it anymore.' ...
Thanks Mr Twain ,I took heed of that at 18Y, and later passed on that message to my daughter ,

pretty it ain't , but cheap it is , we have a looming problem in the UK  ,
afordable housing for young couples , which if unchecked will cause the housing market to colapse IMHO,
Traditionaly UK,  you buy your first small house or apartment , and over the years as your wealth increasses you move on and upwards ,
untill you buy a mansion , then you die early, through working long hard hours to buy the mansion 
this moving upwards allows the young folk to be able to buy your original house and follow in your footsteps ,
now the youngster cant aford to buy , so the market comes to a standstill , Rentall is not a popular option in the UK as it is seen as dead money , the max mortgauge in the UK is 4 times joint wages
and for a young couple it would be around $240,000 leaving them short of $160,000 USD on the $400,000 cheap house ,
building a coventional small house would cost around $180,000 usd , but it is the land cost that is the problem (SW London ) around $3 million usd  for an acre ,

BTW I was on this upwards chain and working 60+ hours and 7 days a week ,
week , I moved 6 times , when enlightenment struck me , I was 2 notches away from the mansion , and a work coleague (same age ) dropped dead , I downgraded 1 notche , pocketed the cash and never worked more than 35 hours per week again , and I ain't the brightest pebble on the beach , but never regreted doing that ,
  pearls of wisdom from me 

 

lol Bro, I would live in a cave if it was cheap enough ,
for me a house  is a place to shelter,eat and sleep ,
Note, I missed out loving , unfortunatly the women folk don't seem to share my thoughts on the cave  ,

What about the coomputer?                    Satelite?             

Phooey!  When I go, I'm leavin it all behind!

 Well, maybe not the Macbook pro, and the Novatel EX720 

 Tdawn, If my better half pitches me to the curb, I'll have nothin left , so I'll volunteer to do the dirty work . 

Whoaa , Farm ,500 acres ,lots of animals , ? cold , snow in the winter , sounds like a lot of hard work to me ,
I will settle for a penthouse apartment overlooking my yacht in the habour in the South of France ,
Oh, and with a leggy swedish blonde maid,

Yeah, I love the simple life , meanwhile I got to head out into the Brit rain again 

Oh goodness mudman. You know you love it. Your still there.