The Labour party has announced its plans to create more housing by proposing to build on the Grey Belt, a new term for neglected parts of the Green Belt.
Shadow leader Keir Starmer shared the party’s vision in a new housing plan, Get Britain Building Again, which sets out proposals for the reform of the planning system. With a large emphasis on creating affordable homes, Labour wants 1.5 million new homes to emerge nationally, with the Grey Belt playing a key role in providing the much needed land.
The housing plan is part of Labour’s strategy to secure the highest sustained growth in the G7, under its five point plan for growth, which includes:
Labour maintains that the Green Belt is made up of genuinely nature-rich areas but also contains areas that are poor quality, such as low-value land, car parks and wasteland. The new category of Grey Belt would represent these areas, which have the potential to feed into the need for land near urban centres for building.
While it proposes the building on some of these sites, this would be offset by improving and protecting genuine areas of nature within the Green Belt, ensuring these rich environments are retained for future generations. Such areas would have strong conditions attached to them to prevent them from being released for building.
As part of its plans, Labour has also set out Golden Rules for good development:
Industry feedback has welcomed the proposals, especially if it promotes smaller sites, but has a shared voice that the devil will, as always, be in the actual details.
Words/image: Duncan Hayes
A rare opportunity has come to market for anyone wishing to build in the village of Coalpit Heath, South Gloucestershire with a custom build site of 11 reasonably-priced plots.
The plots are on the rural edge of the new Barratt’s development at Blackberry Park, a 215 home site with public open space and community allotments, close to Bristol. The site comes with Outline Planning Permission (Ref:P19/2083/RVC) and approval of reserved matters (Ref:PT18/6313/RM & P19/18441/RM).
South Gloucestershire Council has worked hard to create supportive policy to enable self build opportunities to emerge. The plots are the result of its ‘percentage policy’, which requires developers to sell at least 5% of plots on residential and mixed-use sites to self and custom builders (applied on sites over 100 homes).
Such plots represent the opportunity for more people to access custom and self build, but one of the challenges is to alert to alert would be builders to these opportunities.
While many aspiring self builders want a detached plot in the countryside, these come at a premium that means they are not accessible by many. Evidence shows that self builders building adjacent to each other, like at Graven Hill or on Grand Designs The Streets, often have a well-developed sense of community from going through similar experiences.
The serviced plots are for a range of house sizes, from 2- to 4-bedroom, and buyers will need to submit a full planning application for their home. This must meet the parameters for the site set out in the Design Code, which has been approved by South Gloucestershire Council.
The Design Code (available on request from David James, below) allows buyers options to customise certain elements of the exterior of their home, with greater freedoms internally. This works in conjunction with a Plot Passport for each individual plot .
This will include the appearance, landscaping, layout, and scale of the property, to ensure that the individual self build homes work in the concept of the wider development.
Plot prices: three of the plots are under offer (or sold), with the 2-bed and 3/4-bed plots available, with prices varying from £120,000 to £140,000.
Image: concept house designs, Blackberry Park Design Code.
In a new article on his website, NaCSBA member and architect Oliver Murray of ProtaHomes explains what ‘weight’ is in planning and why it can be a good thing for self and custom builders going to appeal following a rejected planning permission.
Self Build Portal users will know that they have the Right to Build – and will have used our search tool to find their local authority’s register.
But did you know that more and more planning appeals are now granting greater emphasis on the local authority’s custom and self build activity? This is in the context of where it can be proven that the council is not meeting the demand on its register.
Oliver came across the appeals while in pursuit of planning for his own self build home. Like many others, he had signed up to the Right to Build – the informal name for the legislation that requires councils to host a register, and consider this in its work.
But like many others Oliver found that his local authority was falling short on ‘permissioning’ custom and self build applications for those wanting to build. NaCSBA knows that this is a fault in the legislation, which has very little carrot or stick to address poor practice.
Researching the matter further, Oliver came across an appeal where the inspector ruled in favour of the applicant, with a contributing factor being that it had not met its duty under the legislation.
Since then there have been a series of wins where applicants have had more ‘weight’, that is importance, attached to their application because it is for custom and self build, and the authority is underperforming. And in some cases this has helped tip the balance in favour of granting permission.
Anyone who has been through the planning process will know it is never straightforward or easy, but these appeals may offer a route for moving forwards should an applicant chose to challenge a negative decision.
Be aware though that going to appeal offers no guarantee of certainty and will require additional costs, so needs careful consideration. While we would love to see more self build homes being permissioned, each application must satisfy wider local plan ambitions about what is acceptable development before the issue and custom and self build comes into play.
If you are considering an application make sure you are aware of what council’s local plan says about the area where you want to build, and consider using a planning consultant with self build experience.
Want to hear more? Join Oliver Murray and Andy Moger of planning consultancy Tetlow King on stage at Grand Designs Live 1 May for How to Claim your Right to Build.
Grand Designs Live is on at Excel London 29 April – 7 May.
South Gloucestershire Council has announced the availability of six self build plots within the Charfield Gardens development, close to the market town of Wotton-under-Edge (Planning reference PT16/6924/O). The six self build plots have been launched as part of a ‘percentage policy’ scheme that requires developers to sell at least 5% of plots on residential and mixed-use sites to self and custom builders (applied on sites over 100 homes).
The size of each plot at Charfield Gardens ranges from 220m² to 254m² and are priced from £125,000. The plots are on the larger Barratt Homes development in Charfield Village, which includes permission for 121 residences and a retail unit, as well as public open space, play areas, allotments, and an orchard.
The six self build plots come with utilities, including foul and surface water drainage, water, gas, electric and telecom. Purchasers must submit a full planning application, outlining the appearance of the build, as well as outline proposals for landscaping, scale and layout.
Planning applications must be aligned with the wider design of the site, as well as the individual Plot Passport, which is a simple and succinct summary of the design parameters for a given plot.
This welcome move makes sets the council apart as a great example of a local authority working to support those people on its self build register.
Image by Mastersenaiper from Pixabay
If you work in the custom and self build sector don’t miss NaCSBA’s first conference, on 1 November at the National Self Build and Renovation Centre in Swindon.
Themed around the idea of remaining resilient in the current market, the Custom and Self Build Conference marks Right to Build Day 2022, the date when the registers close on the 30 October for another complete base period of the local authority registers.
While numbers on the registers are growing, research shows that many people remain unaware that they can sign up to the registers, six years on from them commencing.
For these working in the industry, the conference is an essential opportunity to find out more about a range of factors impacting development, including many environmental changes.
Free for NaCSBA members, the conference brings together leading stakeholders from across the sector, such as custom build enablers and planners. Self Build Portal users can get 50% off, using the code PARTNERS (see below for instructions).
Running order to be confirmed, but sessions include:
PLUS
*Speakers and subjects may change. Conference runs from 9:30-4:30
FREE – NaCSBA members (up to two tickets for Regular members and six tickets for Gold Partners).
£195+VAT for conference only
£295+VAT combined conference ticket and NaCSBA’s Custom and Self Build Market Report (PDF and hard copy while stocks last).
Anyone joining NaCSBA as a member during or in the week following the event will have the cost of their ticket repaid.
To access the 50% discount, use code PARTNERS to generate a halfprice ticket – simply click the link and then the TICKETS button on Eventbrite – then click ADD PROMO CODE (in blue) and APPLY to generate the discount.
If you are a NACSBA member contact Duncan on media@nacsba.org.uk for your code to get a free ticket.
The first phase of a new self build community in Ashford has been given the green light, with an outline planning permission granted for 25 self build plots in Kent. The sustainable development is the result of a partnership between Urbanise, a Kent-based developer, and Steenvlinder, the Dutch custom and self-build (CSB) home specialist that’s now operating in the UK.
The Orchard Farm site has been allocated for housing in the Ashford Local Plan, and the expectations is that the 25 self build opportunities will be the first of a much larger, up to 100-home, site to meet local housing demand.
Purchasers can choose from a range of plot shapes and potential house sizes to suit their budgets, with a Design Code and Plot Passports providing a framework for what is acceptable from a planning permission for the designs and styles.
The site in Kennington is on the northern edge of Ashford, and two miles from Ashford International station. Orchard Farm will appeal to anyone wanting an owner-commissioned home, with options for buyers to build independently or to opt for the help of an architect and builder working as part of the development.
With permission granted, Steenvlinder will be working to get the site operation for this first phase, ensuring that infrastructure, including roads, drains and services, are in place.
Adam Roake, Owner of Urbanise, said, “By partnering with Steenvlinder to create Orchard Farm, we are realising our ambition to change the way that housing is delivered. We will bring real choice to the housing market by enabling people to build their own home. Together, we will create an exciting, sustainable community unlike any other found in Kent.
“Some of the plans under consideration include community orchards and drainage systems that improve water quality. In addition, to reduce the community’s carbon footprint there will be no gas and the use of heat pumps, onsite electricity generation and community heating will be encouraged. No doubt many other sustainable initiatives will be brought forward by the self-builders.”
Hans Sparreboom, CEO and Co-Founder at Steenvlinder, said, “The Netherlands has led the way in innovation in the CSB housing sector and we’re now excited about helping the UK build back better with homes designed and built to last. Our continued mission is to make self-build accessible and pleasant for everyone involved.
“To enable buyers to embark on their self-build journey, we provide a dedicated customer coach who ensures they fully understand the process and then acts as a guide while they explore all the options available to them.”
Orchard Farm is being developed by Orchard Farm Kent Ltd., a partnership between Urbanise and Steenvlinder. Image shows Hans Sparreboom and Adam Roake on site in Kent.