IT MAY look like a house for hobbits with its straw roof and clay walls.

But the man who built it for just £150 thinks he has found a solution to Oxfordshire’s housing problem.

Wolvercote resident and chairman of Wolvercote Commoners Michael Buck built the thatched cob house using only materials that had been recycled or grown locally.

It is now being occupied by someone who works at a nearby dairy and pays rent to Mr Buck, 59, in milk and cream.

He said: “I built it almost as an artistic expression of the madness of house prices. The money we pay for houses nowadays is absolute nonsense.

“I definitely think using natural materials and self-building is an answer to the county’s housing shortage.

“The idea was to build a house which didn’t cost anything but I ended up paying £150 because I made a few mistakes.”

A cob house is constructed from a building material made of clay – which was dug out of from the site – sand, straw, water, and earth.

In the UK, cob houses are most frequently found in the West Country and the Vale of Glamorgan.

Mr Buck’s house is not connected to mains electricity or gas , and water for washing and drinking is supplied via a diverted natural spring.

There is a small wood burning stove for cooking and heating, and bathroom facilities consist of a composting toilet.

The former art teacher and Green county councillor, who drew up the plans for the house on the back of an envelope, said: “I ended up paying £150 because I didn’t grow enough wheat for the thatching straw.

Oxford Mail:

“In the past I have made my own paint but that wasn’t good enough so I had to buy it, but that’s about all.”

Other materials were either donated or recycled, such as wood from a neighbour’s skip which became the floorboards, a lorry’s windscreen which became a window and sheep’s wool from a local farm which was used in the roof.

Mr Buck, who does not want to reveal the location to preserve the privacy of his tenant, recently appeared on the Channel 4 programmed George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces.

He revealed it took him around a year to complete on his own and, while he does not have the energy to build another one, he would help others build a similar house.

Mr Buck said it is classed as a summer house so planning permission is not needed.

City councillor Colin Cook, the executive board member for city development, did not think it would have a significant impact on Oxfordshire’s housing problem.

He said: “I think that this would be a solution for that vanishingly small number of people who own a piece of land where this sort of build would be a possibility – for people who have the skills, the time and funds to support themselves.”