21 May 2015
Opportunities must be provided for people to build their own homes, to help cure the UK’s housing plight, a trade body has announced.
Opening the Building Societies Association (BSA) Conference in Harrogate yesterday, Chief Executive Robin Fieth called on the new Government to provide opportunities for individuals interested in self or custom build; an essential element of what he branded “a wider long term strategy to counter the housing crisis”.
{TEASER}
Mr Fieth claimed that 200,000 homes need to be constructed per year in England alone and, with our top five builders only delivering 30% of that target last year, he recommended that “multiple other builders, plus Housing Associations, Local Authorities and individuals interested in self or custom build are also able to build”.
“Many building societies already have a good working relationship with local and regional builders and are the main suppliers of mortgage finance for self and custom build across the UK”, he added.
This year the BSA is going further with a programme designed to increase the availability of mortgage finance for homes built using modern construction methods and materials. This applies particularly to off-site modular construction, a method used in self and custom building that is substantially quicker than standard brick and tile construction, not yet well understood by the lending community.
