4 February 2016
The Government has confirmed measures obliging councils to keep a register of aspiring self and custom housebuilders when planning for future housing and land use.
The Housing Minister Brandon Lewis made the announcement earlier today as part of government plans to provide more homes. New measures and guidance have been put in place to clearly set out the procedure local authorities will have to take when people wish to register their interest for a plot of land.
Mr Lewis said that more and more people want to build their own home and today’s move will help unlock the massive potential the self and custom build industry has to expand and help meet the country’s future housing needs.
He said: “Many other countries have a track record of delivering large numbers of local homes through self build and we’re determined to ensure self and custom housebuilding grows significantly.
“The new registers are a fantastic example of our commitment to double the number of custom and self build homes by 2020 – so anyone who wishes to design their dream house can do so.
“This government is committed to increasing housing supply and helping more people achieve their aspiration of home ownership – whether that’s buying on the open market through schemes like Help to Buy, or by building or commissioning their own home.”
The registers are in addition to the measure in the Housing and Planning Bill which will require authorities to ensure they have sufficient shovel ready plots to match the local demand on their register.
The Self-build and Custom Housebuilding Bill was first presented to Parliament by Richard Bacon MP and placed a duty on local authorities to keep a register of those seeking an interest in bringing forward self and custom build projects.
And, in the Spending Review, the Government announced the establishment of the Housing Development Fund which aims to provide access to £1 billion of loan finance for up to 5 years supporting the provision of over 25,000 homes through to 2024 to 2025. The fund is for custom build, small and medium builders and innovative new building methods.
