Hi, From Rural Bulgaria!

Hi 😊👋
I'm so excited to have found this website! So many forums and threads full of skills and knowledge I'm desperate to soak in.
My name's Kayleigh and my husband and I move to Bulgaria from England. We're slowly bringing an abandoned vineyard back to life and transforming it into a beautiful off-grid homestead for us and our two children, Alex and Ember.
It is a very slow transformation, as we are doing the work ourselves and are using the leftovers of each pay cheque on our projects.

Our big main project will be the build of our home. We are in love with Earthships and strawbale homes, and completed a strawbale building course in Brighton a few years back. Our biggest hurdle here is the planning and building codes in Bulgaria. The use of tyres, from what we have seen, is a no go. So we are in the research phase of working out what we can do. This is tricky when information is not too easily available and you are still a beginner in the Bulgarian language BUT we have overcome many challenges to get to where we are now so we won't let this stop us!

There's, of course, lots of sideline projects also, water management and permaculture are huge players in this.

Now to resume scrolling and reading - thank you for reading!

Kayleigh 🇧🇬🌱❤️

Hi, i have a small bias against tires, but wouldn't it be easier to build a wooden structure and fill it in with haybales to get a permit?

Hugo Morvan wrote:Hi, i have a small bias against tires, but wouldn't it be easier to build a wooden structure and fill it in with haybales to get a permit?

I think if we did a timber framed strawbale structure it would certainly be easier for permits. I had also wondered about an earthbag build. We are trying to get more information on the building permit requirements over here at the moment, but it's not easy to find!

Hello Kayleigh and welcome! Sounds like you have a lot going on.
I would think earthbags are a reasonable alternative to tyres; and possibly less work too, which may suit depending on your resources. Adobe, rammed earth walls...there are many ways of achieving similar thermal mass and structural ability depending on your local soil type. We've probably got separate forums for discussing each of those in the natural and off grid building forum!
Good luck and keep us updated!

Nancy Reading wrote:Hello Kayleigh and welcome! Sounds like you have a lot going on.
I would think earthbags are a reasonable alternative to tyres; and possibly less work too, which may suit depending on your resources. Adobe, rammed earth walls...there are many ways of achieving similar thermal mass and structural ability depending on your local soil type. We've probably got separate forums for discussing each of those in the natural and off grid building forum!
Good luck and keep us updated!

Yes definitely lots of options. We are keen to find what is right for our location and climate that's for sure.

Thank you for your suggestions ☺️

Welcome to Permies.

Hello Kayleigh and family,

Welcome to Permies and welcome to your new start in Bulgaria!
I'm enjoying the vibe that emanates from your introduction: energetic, enthousiastic, creative, happy to dive in Excellent!
You'll find this forum super informative, helpful and kind.
Happy surfing and keep us updated on how things are going!

A friendly wave from France, we're 1,5 years into our new start

Hi Kayleigh! I don't know much about building permits, as we bought a property with an old house already on it. Though this isn't official, I've been told that one can often get away with building something else low-key on the land if there's a house already on the cadastral map for the property,

As you may have already found out, it seems in Bulgaria there are two sets of rules, the official what-the-EU-says rules and the local rules that actually get enforced. Have you had an informal chat with someone at the kmetsvo to find out what might be okay, even if it's not quite a match with the EU rules?  Our village seems very relaxed about these things!

We're counting down the days till I qualify for my D visa and we can move!

Jane Mulberry wrote:Hi Kayleigh! I don't know much about building permits, as we bought a property with an old house already on it. Though this isn't official, I've been told that one can often get away with building something else low-key on the land if there's a house already on the cadastral map for the property,

As you may have already found out, it seems in Bulgaria there are two sets of rules, the official what-the-EU-says rules and the local rules that actually get enforced. Have you had an informal chat with someone at the kmetsvo to find out what might be okay, even if it's not quite a match with the EU rules?  Our village seems very relaxed about these things!

We're counting down the days till I qualify for my D visa and we can move!

Hi Jane!

Yes it definitely seems like there are two sets of rules. The issue we have is that we have been documenting our journey on YouTube and therefore do not have the option of doing anything under the radar.
I need to visit the kmetsvo, or even just try and chat to our village mayor about our plans. It is our intention to build on the same footprint as the old house we have. Whenever I have asked for information online, there have always been mixed answers and opinions so I definitely think I need to get some courage (and my Bulgarian translate app) and visit them in person.

I hope you don't have to wait too long for your D Visa, I'm very relieved we did not have to do this and admire you for your determination as I know it's a lengthy process ❤️

I think our next step is to learn how to use some online design programs so we can draw what we would like. Then we can start discussions.

Kayleigh x

I found your youtube channel: Oh my! I love the kids 'helping'!

I'm sure that the overshed on the caravan will make it much cooler in summer as well as warmer in winter - good idea!
You seem to have a lot of stone...It would be great to be able to use that inside the house for thermal mass, especially with the temperature swings you are getting. Have you looked at rocket mass stoves? That could be a good central feature perhaps. Life never takes you in a straight line, but it is fun exploring the twists and turns of the road. Thank you for sharing your life.

Kayleigh Uden wrote:
I need to visit the kmetsvo, or even just try and chat to our village mayor about our plans. It is our intention to build on the same footprint as the old house we have. Whenever I have asked for information online, there have always been mixed answers and opinions so I definitely think I need to get some courage (and my Bulgarian translate app) and visit them in person.

You have an excellent channel, I've watched some of the videos in the past!

Yes, no matter what the question, in Bulgaria there will be multiple answers.

On building, one person says as long as the new building doesn't go over the original footprint or if you keep the original house and build a secondary dwelling on the property, there's no problem. Others say no, even replacing roof beams on the existing house needs a permit!  On the D visa to get residency, the official line is strict rules to qualify and masses of paperwork even to renew an existing residency, yet I still hear of post-Brexit Brits rocking up to their local immigration office with nothing more than their UK passport and the notary deeds and being given residency.

There's also the risk of being told locally, "Don't worry, do what you want with your building" and then someone else coming along and saying it has to be demolished. Or for us with residency, selling up in the UK and moving when someone bent the rules slightly and gave us what we thought was legal documentation without meeting all the requirements, then getting refused renewal and deported a year later.

The problem is, officially if you do apply for a building permit, they have to follow the EU line. I imagine cob or adobe being traditional could be okay.  Straw bale shouldn't be too much of a problem. There are definitely a few strawbale buildings in Bulgaria, though possibly not officially permitted but secondary dwellings on the property. Earthship might be pushing boundaries. I wonder if any of the members here in other EU countries have experience with Earthship style building. Or is there an EU alternative building group you could ask?  There's one on Facebook, but I don't think there are many Bulgarian members. Still, if you can find a precedent of approval being granted somewhere else in the EU, it would help your case a lot.  This book might be a bit out of date as it's 10 years old now, but it could be useful -- or contacting those involved might get you some useful guidance: https://www.lowcarbon.co.uk/publications/earthships-in-europe  None in Bg, but if they were approved under EU building regs it should help show precedents.

Nancy Reading wrote:I found your youtube channel: Oh my! I love the kids 'helping'!

I'm sure that the overshed on the caravan will make it much cooler in summer as well as warmer in winter - good idea!
You seem to have a lot of stone...It would be great to be able to use that inside the house for thermal mass, especially with the temperature swings you are getting. Have you looked at rocket mass stoves? That could be a good central feature perhaps. Life never takes you in a straight line, but it is fun exploring the twists and turns of the road. Thank you for sharing your life.

Hi Nancy - thanks so much for watching. Yes the kids are always helping out and getting involved!
Yes we do have a lot of stone, but the quality of it in the current buildings isn't great and much of it has been frost damaged over the years, just crumbles in our hands.

You are so right - no straight lines here, we are definitely a scribbly journey 😍

Jane Mulberry wrote:

Kayleigh Uden wrote:
I need to visit the kmetsvo, or even just try and chat to our village mayor about our plans. It is our intention to build on the same footprint as the old house we have. Whenever I have asked for information online, there have always been mixed answers and opinions so I definitely think I need to get some courage (and my Bulgarian translate app) and visit them in person.

You have an excellent channel, I've watched some of the videos in the past!

Yes, no matter what the question, in Bulgaria there will be multiple answers.

On building, one person says as long as the new building doesn't go over the original footprint or if you keep the original house and build a secondary dwelling on the property, there's no problem. Others say no, even replacing roof beams on the existing house needs a permit!  On the D visa to get residency, the official line is strict rules to qualify and masses of paperwork even to renew an existing residency, yet I still hear of post-Brexit Brits rocking up to their local immigration office with nothing more than their UK passport and the notary deeds and being given residency.

There's also the risk of being told locally, "Don't worry, do what you want with your building" and then someone else coming along and saying it has to be demolished. Or for us with residency, selling up in the UK and moving when someone bent the rules slightly and gave us what we thought was legal documentation without meeting all the requirements, then getting refused renewal and deported a year later.

The problem is, officially if you do apply for a building permit, they have to follow the EU line. I imagine cob or adobe being traditional could be okay.  Straw bale shouldn't be too much of a problem. There are definitely a few strawbale buildings in Bulgaria, though possibly not officially permitted but secondary dwellings on the property. Earthship might be pushing boundaries. I wonder if any of the members here in other EU countries have experience with Earthship style building. Or is there an EU alternative building group you could ask?  There's one on Facebook, but I don't think there are many Bulgarian members. Still, if you can find a precedent of approval being granted somewhere else in the EU, it would help your case a lot.  This book might be a bit out of date as it's 10 years old now, but it could be useful -- or contacting those involved might get you some useful guidance: https://www.lowcarbon.co.uk/publications/earthships-in-europe  None in Bg, but if they were approved under EU building regs it should help show precedents.

Hi Jane!
Aw that's really kind of you to say that, we are very proud of the content we put out. We were inspired by so many others and it really helped us when we were struggling back in England, so we hope it helps inspires others too.

Yes, we know of a beautiful strawbale build by a young couple here. I think it looks like a timber framed strawbale build will be the better option but I feel like I want to look at all the different options available first. Earthship would be our dream, but we might be able to use some of its principles within our design perhaps. Great idea about looking for other builds within the EU to use as examples. I will definitely check out that website this evening too and see if I can reach out to anyone. Thank you SO much! Xx