Apprentice Gareth Moor builds own house from scratch

Mar 11 2010 The Journal

AN award-winning apprentice is walking in his father’s footsteps by building his own house from scratch.

Gareth Moor, 26, helped his father build their family home on Hepscott Road, Morpeth, when he was just 12.

Now, 14 years on, he is coming to the end of construction on his new £250,000 bungalow in Elsdon, Northumberland, which he and his dad started almost two years ago.

Gareth, who currently lives in Morpeth with his parents Colin, 58, and Valarie, 57, won the Advanced Apprentice of Year Award after coming top out of 240,000 apprentices across the UK.

He was presented with the title at the Learning and Skills Council’s National Apprenticeship Awards in 2007 after helping run a £500,000 project on St James’s Boulevard, Newcastle, for electricians Dougal and Railton.

And his £1,000 prize money helped kick off his home project a year later, when he used it as a deposit for his plot of land in Elsdon.

Gareth said: “I was having trouble finding my first house and thought ‘why not build one instead of buying one?’

“The house is 120 square metres with three bedrooms, one en-suite, a lounge, a dining room, kitchen, and now a garage.

“And once I’ve put all the services in for water and electricity, we’ll then start putting in a driveway.”

Elsdon is a small village in the Northumberland National Park with roughly 50 houses.

Gareth said: “The bungalow had to be in keeping with other houses in the area as part of planning permission. For example it had to be a stone house with a slate roof, timber windows and a stone wall in the garden.

“This is something I always wanted to do but I thought I would be at least 34 before I could build my own house.

“I’m hoping for completion by the end of the autumn.”

Gareth’s success in the National Apprenticeship Awards meant he was invited to 10 Downing Street as part of Government efforts to double the number of apprenticeships in the UK.

He met Prime Minister Gordon Brown along with three of the country’s other top apprentices and was then invited to Parliament to discuss with MPs how they can entice more people to do apprenticeships.

Gareth, a Northumbria University graduate in building services engineering, is one of three brothers.

His eldest brother Craig, 29, works at an oil firm in Aberdeen, while Richard, 27, is an accounts manager and has lived in London for two years.

His father Colin, a contracts manager for the council, has helped his son every step of the way.

He said: “The land was someone’s garden originally. An elderly couple owned it but were unable to maintain it any longer so Gareth bought it from them.

“When I built our house, Gareth was there every minute. I think that was the reason he was interested in building his own house.”