Planning Minister says he wants to see at least a quarter of all Britain’s homes delivered by self/custom build
26 March 2014
Around 100 people attended last night’s meeting of the new All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Self and Custom Build. The meeting was set up so that the industry could formally update and Brief those MPs that are interested in understanding more about the sector.
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Kevin McCloud delivered the formal Briefing presentation, and the MPs then heard from Planning Minister Nick Boles, and Shadow Housing Minister Emma Reynolds – both of whom welcomed the formation of the new APPG and pledged their support for developing the sector and making it much easier for more people to build their own homes in the future.
The Chairman of the new APPG, South Norfolk MP Richard Bacon, said he was taken aback by the huge turnout. Many APPG meetings attract just a handful of attendees; so last night’s session shows just how much cross party support there is to make it easier for people to build their own homes. “We are seeing the beginning of a process which will help to turn the self build and custom build sector into a mainstream option for those who would like to own their own home,” he said.
Among the many MPs in the room were two that had built their own homes – Selby and Ansty’s Nigel Adams and Harwich and North Essex MP, Bernard Jenkin. The chair of the Communities and Local Government Select Committee, Sheffield Labour MP Clive Betts, also spoke out in favour of growing the sector, and he highlighted the initiatives he had seen when he had taken his committee to Almere in the Netherlands.
Shadow Housing Minister Emma Reynolds (pictured right) said that the UK had a lot to learn from Europe.”Our public authorities and central Government need to change their culture so that more small parcels of land are made available. I want to make this way of building a home available to people in their 20s and 30s,” she said.
Planning Minister Nick Boles said his ambition was to see at least a quarter of all Britain’s new homes built this way. He said he wanted every local authority to hold a list of those local people that want to build, so councils could see the demand and then provide serviced plots accordingly.
Following the main gathering there was a Drinks Reception attended by the Housing Minister Kris Hopkins, other MPs and many senior industry representatives. Mr Hopkins also pledged his support and urged the industry to get behind the National Self Build Association and its effort to significantly expand the scale of the sector.
