Proposals To Help People Build Their Own Homes Welcomed By Housing Secretary

Proposals to help more people build their own homes have been ‘warmly welcomed’ by Robert Jenrick. Richard Bacon MP’s review of Custom and Self Build finds huge potential in the sector which could deliver 30-40,000 more homes every year, and recommends a major-scaling up of self-built homes to boost the overall housing supply. The report was commissioned to improve the housebuilding industry by giving customers more choice, and to make home building a mainstream, realistic and affordable option for people across the country. Read more on the GovUK website.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/proposals-to-help-people-build-their-own-homes-welcomed-by-housing-secretary-robert-jenrick

Government Launches £150m ‘Help To Build’ Fund

The government has unveiled a new £150m fund aimed at making it easier and more affordable for people to build their own homes. Housing secretary Robert Jenrick announced the new ‘Help to Build’ scheme to make self and custom homebuilding a realistic option to enable people to get on the housing ladder. The fund will provide an equity loan to those looking to take the self-build option. This will work similarly to the Help to Buy scheme. Read more on the Housing Today website.

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/government-announces-150m-self-build-boost/5111549.article 

Councils Increasingly Backing Self-Build Housing Schemes

More than half of local planning authorities across England have made concrete moves to deliver local plan policies which back the delivery of custom and self-build housing. Research by the Right to Build Taskforce (RBT) found 58% of planning authorities either had in place or were bringing on such policies, up from barely a quarter (24%) in 2015. But the RTB also found that few councils offered “the necessary meaningful support [for custom and self-build] within the spirit of legislation and government policy” and one in three adopted plans were failing to make any provision for such schemes. Read more on the Housing Today website.

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/councils-increasingly-backing-self-build-housing-schemes/5102458.article

‘Give Tenants Designs On New Social Housing’ Says LGA Chair

LGA chair Lord Porter says ‘self-build’ is the future for social housing, with future tenants having designs on the design of up to 100,000 new homes and building regulation the only criteria. Next week, the chancellor Philip Hammond is expected to confirm that from as soon as next month councils will no longer have to doff a borrowing cap to housebuilding. Porter wants to push for bolder – councils directly working with tenants on design rather than councils simply commissioning volume housebuilders. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/give-tenants-designs-on-new-social-housing/

Housing Developer Wants To Drop Affordable Homes From Scheme

A housing developer says it can't fund the rest of the affordable houses it's due to build on the site of a former school. Kells Development Group was granted planning permission in 2010 to build 74 houses with 22 of these being affordable. To date, 57 of the homes have been built – the majority self-build plots. Sixteen of the houses have been sold to housing association Two Castles but the remaining eight, which were intended to be sold or rented out at an intermediate discounted rate, have not been built. The developer has now asked for a relaxation in its legal requirements to provide the affordable homes saying it wants to sell the eight plots to foot the bill to complete the roads. Read more on the News & Star website.

Self And Custom Build Homes Market On The Rise

The UK’s self and custom build housing market has recorded its third consecutive annual rise, according to new research. The market is growing at 6.25 per cent year on year, information provider Homebuilding and Renovating has suggested. At its current pace, the sector is estimated to reach 16,500 home completions by 2020. The three-year forecast indicates an industry growth of 41 per cent, valuing the sector at £6 billion. The forecast, Homebuilding and Renovating said, reinforces the sector’s strategic role in contributing to government housebuilding targets. Read more on the Planning Portal.

Right To Build Task Force Set Up In UK

A new Right to Build Expert Task Force has been launched in the UK with the aim of creating significantly more affordable homes in the next three years. The Task Force will work with local authorities, community groups and other organisations across the country to deliver large, affordable custom and self-build housing projects. It will be working with at least 80 organisations to help ensure other projects benefit and the lessons learned will be shared through regional events and case studies within the Right to Build Portal. Read more on Property Wire.

Implementation Dates For Housing Act Policies

Regulations introducing Starter Homes are due to come into force in the summer. Housing and Planning Act implementation dates:

·         Starter Homes, in force this summer

·         Secure tenancies, in force this autumn

·         Higher Value Asset sales, in due course, no detail is given on the timing

·         Brownfield registers, spring

·         Housing association insolvency regime, regulations will come before parliament in February

·         Self-build and custom building regulations, 31 October

·         Planning obligations and affordable housing, remains under review

Read more on Inside Housing.

Government Reveals Criteria For £3bn Home Building Fund

The government has published details of eligibility criteria for its £3bn Home Building Fund, which will be administered by the Homes and Communities Agency and will provide development and infrastructure loan funding for community-led housing projects, serviced plots for custom and self-builders, offsite manufacturing, new entrants to the market and groups of small firms working together to deliver larger sites. The fund will provide £1bn of short-term loan funding for small builders, custom builders and ‘innovators’, to deliver 25,000 homes by 2020. It will also provide £2bn of long-term funding for infrastructure, to support 200,000 homes over the longer term. Housing associations will be able to bid for loans from the fund. Read more on the GovUK website.

Housing: Construction – Parliamentary Written Answer

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what support he has provided to local authorities and the construction industry to encourage the promotion of self-build schemes for constructing new homes.

Gavin Barwell:We have a strong commitment to supporting and encouraging the growth of self- and custom build homes. The Government has implemented new legislation requiring most local planning authorities to hold and have regard to registers for those seeking to build their own home in a local authority area. Subject to Parliamentary processes, in the Autumn we will also introduce secondary legislation flowing from the Housing and Planning Act 2016 which will require local planning authorities to find and give permission to suitable land reflecting the demand demonstrated by the registers. We have made available £32 million in new burdens funding over the Spending Review period in order to support local planning authorities in meeting these new requirements. In the 2015 Spending Review, the Government also announced a £3 billion loan fund of which £1 billion is specifically earmarked for short term loans to support small and medium builders and custom build projects and is designed to provide further support for the legislation that we have introduced.

Locality Launches Programme To Help Communities Build Their Own Homes

A programme for communities all-but abandoned by conventional provision of affordable housing has been launched to help them tackle the crisis locally by building their own homes. Locality, a national network of community-led organisations, has secured funding from the charitable Nationwide Foundation to deliver its Early Stage Support programme. The scheme will help 22 community groups start up their own community-led housing projects to provide “affordable, decent homes for local people”. Read more on the Housing Excellence website.

Councils Must Keep A Register Of People Interested In Self-Build

From April, councils will be required to maintain a register of people who want to build their own home, the housing minister, Brandon Lewis has announced. The register, compiled as part of the process of planning for future housing and land use, is intended to make it easier for those interested in self- or custom-build to find plots of land to realise their ambition. Guidance for the new measure has been put in place to “clearly set out” the procedure local authorities will have to take when people wish to register their interest for a plot of land. Read more on the Housing Excellence website.

Self Build Properties Fall to Six Year Low

New figures reveal that UK-wide self build planning applications in 2014 have decreased by 28% compared to 2008. Data show that 16,792 self build planning applications were submitted in the first three quarters of 2008, which has steadily declined year on year to 12,159 in 2014. As part of the Government's on-going policy to increase the number of available homes, new measures were announced in the 2014 Budget to increase the amount of self build projects. These include a £150 million loan fund to help bring forward thousands of 'shovel ready' building plots and a proposed 'right to build' policy, giving custom builders the right to a suitable plot of land for self build housing, which is currently being pioneered in 11 areas across the country. Read more on the PR Newswire website.

New Right to Build Areas Helping Aspiring Self-Builders

Eleven areas across the country will benefit from the latest government-backed opportunity to help aspiring custom or self-builders get their projects off the ground, under plans announced by Brandon Lewis. The Housing Minister said these 11 areas would be at the forefront of the government’s efforts to help those looking to build their own homes turn their dreams into reality. The Right to Build is the latest in a range of measures designed to help those looking to build their own home. These 11 chosen areas will establish and maintain a register of prospective custom and self-builders in the area and begin to identify shovel-ready sites for those on the register - becoming the first to offer local people the right to design and build their own home. Read more on the CLG website.

Government Aims to Scrap S106 Levies for Self-Build Housing

The Government has announced it wants to scrap levies charged to people who want to build their own home in an effort to make self-build housing a more viable option. Scrapping such levies will knock thousands of pounds off the price of self-build housing, according to the CLG. It said that a number of councils have applied Section 106 charges, which have made these types of development unviable. The charges, which can also be applied to the building of extensions and annexes, require a levy for affordable housing. But CLG said this would be scrapped for self-builders, homeowners and developers wanting to bring redundant buildings back into use. It would also apply to builders “eager to make use of small sites to provide much needed housing”. Read more on the Housing Excellence website.

Budget 2014: The Key Points for Housing

·         New homes planned - New homes will be built in Barking and Brent Cross, while 15,000 will go up in a new garden city at Ebbsfleet. The government will be publishing a further prospectus on garden cities later in the year.

·         Reforms to planning - The Chancellor will extend the Help to Buy equity loan scheme for the rest of the decade, to get "120,000 new homes built".

·         New funds for home building - The government will provide £150m to help self-builders in a "right to build" scheme, and give £500m to small house building firms.

·         Stamp duty extended - The government is attempting to cut down on stamp duty tax avoided through company-owned homes by expanding its 15% rate from residential properties worth over £2m to those worth more than £500,000.

Access the full Budget statement together with supporting documents at the Gov UK website.

More Government Support For Self-Build

Self-build is an important element of the government’s housing strategy, and supports action to help new house building firms and get empty and redundant buildings back into productive use. Communities Minister Don Foster has announced a series of measures to ensure the self-build market is opened up to those on lower incomes. These include:

• Providing new grant funding for community self-builders
• Working with councils to increase land for self-build plots
• Removing unfair taxes from self-builders
• Freeing up more redundant public sector land for self-builders

Read more on the Govuk website.

£17 Million Support to Help Communities Build

Housing Minister Mark Prisk has announced the fund which will offer additional support to people with plans and ideas for their neighbourhood, from self-build homes to community shops.  The minister said the money will ensure that those wishing to realise their vision will no longer be put off building by the challenges of design and permissions. Until now, the £17 million pot was earmarked solely to help Community Right to Build projects develop their proposals. But to ensure that local building plans can access the same support, whatever route they take, Mr Prisk has expanded the scheme to include any community project.  This means that communities who want to make a change in their area, such as creating a new playground, renovating an empty home or making plots available for house building will be able to access the money they need to develop plans and make it happen. Read more on the Govuk website.

Unemployed Hired To Build Their Own Homes

Unemployed people will be recruited to help build their own homes under a scheme which could be rolled out across the country.  Association Trent & Dove Housing is constructing 14 affordable homes as part of a self-build pilot with a building contractor. Four formerly unemployed people are directly employed by contractor Harvey and Clark on an apprenticeship scheme which will give them an NVQ qualification. They will each live in one of the homes, which will be for rent or shared ownership, when they are completed.  Read more on Inside Housing.

Council Offering Self-Build Scheme

Lewisham Council is offering residents a rare opportunity to build their own home.  The Council is re-introducing its self-build scheme as a further step towards meeting the growing demand for social housing in the borough and to provide new skills for unemployed local people.  The initiative will be supported by the National Self Build Association and run in partnership with an experienced house builder.  The scheme has been designed for people on Lewisham’s housing waiting list who want to develop their skills in house building trades such as electrical, carpentry, plumbing and bricklaying – and who also want to build their own home.  In addition to gaining a new home, residents will acquire new skills to help them access future employment opportunities. Read more on the Lewisham Council website.