Meet Self-Build Demand Minister Tells Councils

Chris Bates, Editor of Build It magazine
by Chris Batesmith
19th March 2015

Housing minister Brandon Lewis has written to all Council Leaders and Chief Executives of English local planning authorities (LPAs) to reiterate that they should identify and plan for local demand for self and custom build homes.

The letter could become a key tool in enabling more self-build opportunities.

Available to download via the NaCSBA website, the missive sets out the government’s commitment to growing custom and self-build housing in England. It highlights a number of initiatives it has launched in order to help deliver homes people actually want, including:

  • Placing a strong emphasis in planning policy and guidance on local authorities accounting for custom and self-build when preparing their Local Plans.
  • Identifying government-owned sites for custom and self-build development.
  • Providing £150m repayable finance to developers and other organisations to bring forward up to 10,000 serviced custom build plots over the next six years.
  • Engaging with lenders to increase the number of custom and self-build mortgages available.
  • Exempting custom and self-builders from the Community Infrastructure Levy.
  • Introducing a 10-unit threshold for Section 106 affordable housing contributions to boost opportunities for custom and self-builders.

In his letter, Lewis says: “This action is having a real impact. However, we recognise that there is still a long way to go if custom and self-build housing is to become a mainstream option in this country. In particular, we all need to do more to address the lack of suitable plots of land being made available, and we believe that local planning authorities have a vital role to play.”

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) makes it clear that LPAs should identify and plan for local demand for custom and self-build housing. Lewis has suggested that “planning inspectors will want to see evidence that consideration of demand for custom and self-build housing has been taken into account when they examine Local Plans. Failure to provide sufficient evidence may lead to plans being found unsound.”

In other words, if councils do not produce policies that accommodate self and custom-build friendly policies, their Local Plans could be challenged. If found unsound, this would open the door to more uncontrolled development as it undermines councils’ requirement to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply.

The absence of a compliant Local Plan leaves LPAs could leave councils with no defence at against the NPPF’s ‘presumption in favour of sustainable development’ should a planning decision go to appeal.

“This letter is a key document that could be used by individuals, planning consultants, self-build companies and custom build enablers to help them get plots of land for projects,” said Michael Holmes, chair of the National Association of Custom & Self-Builders (NaCSBA).

Plymouth council has already responded to the correspondence. Councillor Mark Lowry, Cabinet Member for Finance for Plymouth City Council, said: “We welcome this announcement, but Plymouth is already leading the way when it comes to enabling more custom and self-build housing. As part of our Plan for Homes, which aims to address the chronic housing shortage by delivering more than 1,000 new homes every year for the next five years, we are committed to a number of initiatives to help make this happen, including self-build opportunities.”

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