14 October 2013
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has confirmed his intention to stop local councils imposing onerous Section 106 contributions on self build projects.
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Speaking today at a Policy Exchange event he said it was “ludicrous” for local authorities to ask individual self builders to pay the Section 106 tax as part of a deal to secure planning permission. The Government has already confirmed that self and custom builders will not have to pay CIL charges on any new self build homes that start from early in 2014.
“Britain has been called a nation of shopkeepers; I want us to become a nation of self builders too,” he said. The Minister reminded the audience that his administration had already helped secure a number of sites for self build projects from the Homes and Communities Agency. And he said he would be encouraging the HCA to make many more sites available – large and small – so that more people could realise their dream of building a home for themselves.
Pickles said councils that encouraged self build were boosting local businesses and their supply chains, and were also helping to sustain construction jobs.
The Minister said self building should be attainable for everyone. He welcomed the “blossoming of interest” from people who want to build their own homes and said “the more people who do it the better”.
Planning red tape and unnecessary planning conditions were also condemned by the Minister, and he encouraged councils to draw up registers of local people who wanted a building plot so that they could be given the chance to buy any suitable council land that was being disposed of.
He also encouraged collective self build groups to use the Community Right to Reclaim initiative to help them find sites for their projects.
Welcoming Pickles’ commitment to the sector NaSBA chair Ted Stevens said, “It’s great to hear this level of support from such a high ranking Minister. It’s good that there seems to be a real consensus across all the parties to support people who want to build their one homes.”
Also at the event was one of the Deputy Prime Ministers team who said the Lib Dems were strong supporters of self build. The Labour Party’s new shadow housing spokesperson, Emma Reynolds, was not able to attend but she has already signalled her interest in developing the sector too.
