They build their house with their own hands
“Buying or building a house for a million euros is unthinkable for us”. Tessy Eiffener and Antoine Persoons have embarked on an original project to be able to settle in Luxembourg: to build their house themselves. The couple’s project, who previously lived in Germany, started in 2016. Antoine and Tessy took three years to buy land. They find their happiness in Erpeldange-sur-Sûre, in the center of the country. Tessy specifies that this investment represents “more than 65%” of their project.
Residents admit that self-construction does not save land purchase prices. “On the other hand, the prices of conventional construction in our region (3,000 euros / m²) should be compared to those of self-construction (1,000 to 1,500 euros / m²), they point out. The proportion of studies and work carried out by us and not by companies exceeds 90% ”.
“Participatory worksite”
But how then to go about such a project? Self-builders explain that it takes a very important personal and family investment, know-how, experience and will to learn on the job in all trades. “We also decided very early on to integrate our project into participatory worksite networks, via platforms such as Twiza, Facebook, Bâtacc,” notes the couple. Our site then became a solidarity site. In return for voluntary participation, participants can learn about different alternative construction methods. They thus acquire useful knowledge that they would reuse for their own projects. Some people enjoy this exchange so much that they come back and new friendships are formed. The result is reciprocity of mutual aid and exchanges between these networks ”.
The initiative is also distinguished by its ecological aspect, since from the ground floor to the roof, the house is built mainly from … wood and 1000 bales of local straw. “In addition to being renewable and greatly reducing the carbon footprint, these materials are recyclable and reusable,” explain Tessy and Antoine. This is the principle of the circular economy. For example, the straw repelled every year. The one we used can be used again at the end of the building’s life. What we have in excess has gone back to the farmer who sold it to us ”. From an energy point of view, the house is classified “AAA”, according to the requirements of the Luxembourg thermal regulations, and approaches the requirements of the standard German passive (Passivhaus), notes the couple.
Self-building, a “fairly marginal” phenomenon
Norry Dondelinger, Director of Economic Affairs at the Chamber of Trades, believes that the self-construction of houses in Luxembourg is a “fairly marginal” phenomenon. “It must effectively ensure that qualified people have the appropriate skills and the time necessary to embark on such a process,” he explains.
Same story on the side of Christian Reuter, the deputy general of the federation of craftsmen, who adds that in Luxembourg it is “above all” the prices of construction land that have succeeded in the problem. “The price of services from construction companies evolve more or less in line with inflation,” he notes. It is therefore not on this side that we should look for the factors that cause prices to explode ”.
(Olivier Loyens / The essential)
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