Left: Members of the Group SelfBuild Project are eagerly awaiting the move into the houses they built themselves in Harmony Court, Pakenham.
By Callan Date
SPENDING almost every weekend for 10 months helping to build 11 of your neighbours’ houses might put pressure on some acrossthefence relationships.
But the 12 couples building their dream homes at Harmony Court in Pakenham are getting along like a house on fire.
The soontoberesidents are all part of the Group Self Build Project – a Victorian Government program designed to assist people in making the transition from rental accommodation to owning their own home.
The couples have been spending each weekend digging trenches, hammering nails and doing nearly everything else to help build each other’s properties.
Les King and Cynthia Dodson decided to escape the rental life of suburban Cheltenham and start the great Australian dream of owning their first house.
“The project was offered in Pakenham and the area really appealed to us,” Mr King said.
“We like the semirural environment, we will have a decentsized backyard and the land was reasonably affordable for us.”
The participants in the program come from a range of different backgrounds and have been renting in places all over Melbourne.
Travis Sinclair, a mechanic, and his wife Carli were thrilled to be part of the project and are eagerly waiting the time when they move in to their own house.
“We basically come in and do anything that doesn’t require a trade and you only have to have a reasonable level of handymantype ability,” Mr Sinclair said.
One downside to the selfbuild project has been the lack of a social life for the builders on their traditional days off.
“It has been very rewarding for us, but it takes it toll with all your weekends and public holidays spent working on the houses,” Mr King said.
But the positives seem to far outweigh the negatives.
Those involved in the project save a considerable amount of money by doing the labour on their houses and also have the buying power of purchasing appliances, kitchens and the like in bulk.
Apart from the financial savings that come with building the majority of your own home, both Mr Sinclair and Mr King believe the interaction between their future neighbours has been priceless.
“Like anything, there will be some niggling issues, but on the whole we really get along well,” Mr Sinclair said.
So much so that the boys decided to get together last month for a night out.
“All the blokes did a solid Saturday of work on the houses and once we were finished we went down to get a counter meal at the local pub and then headed back to the houses and had a few beers together around a bonfire,” Mr Sinclair said.
Afterwards, they spent the night on the floor of one of the unfinished houses and hit the tools first thing the following morning.
“It was a great way to further bond everyone together and we all had a great time,” he said.
The residents will move into their houses later this month.
It seems more than a coincidence they will be residing in Harmony Court.
