4 December 2012
An innovative ‘self finish’ project is expected to start on site in Bristol next June, and it could prove to be a template for similar projects in other urban locations around the UK.
The development, in Fishponds Road, involves a former school site, which has been donated by the city council to the Bristol Community Land Trust (BCLT). The Trust will shortly lodge a formal planning application for the scheme, and will be seeking funding support from the Homes and Communities Agency – possibly via the Custom Build Investment Fund.
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Twelve homes are planned – six one bedroom apartments in the former school building itself, and a terrace of six three bedroom homes built in the playground. The units will be allocated to local people in housing need via South West Homes, and some will be for sale and some for rent. It will also be possible to part buy/part rent a home.
Precise costs are still to be finalised but it is likely a typical flat will cost as little as £57,000 (assuming the purchaser buys 60 per cent of the equity). The three bedroom homes will cost £180,000 (for 100% of the equity) or £108,000 for 60%. The properties are expected to be reasonably energy efficient, and they will be arranged around a communal garden.
The BCLT will appoint a main building contractor to undertake the bulk of the construction work, with the self builders being involved in some of the key construction stages and with the finishing off/fitting out of the interiors. Assuming the project can get on site in June 2013, the residents should be able to move in early in 2014.
Most of the homes are already ear marked for potential owners or tenants, though two of them are understood to still be available.
The chairman of the National Self Build Association, Ted Stevens, welcomed the project as a template that could be replicated in other urban areas. “The beauty of this project is that the land has been put into a community land trust, so the ground the homes stand on will never form part of their value. This means they’ll stay ‘affordable’ into the future, even if the self builders move on.”
“Bristol City Council is to be commended for donating the land to the Trust – this gesture has made the whole project viable. It is always difficult to acquire land for self build projects like this, even in rural areas. And in urban areas land prices are usually prohibitive. I see this project as being a model that other city councils could adopt.”
The team from BCLT is also in the early planning stages for a second project – involving a redundant office building in the city centre. This would be made available as a ‘self refurb’ opportunity and could provide another 20 homes and workspaces.
