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Plum Pictures producing new six part Channel 4 series on building your dream home, mortgage free
new six-part television series for Channel 4 following individuals from across the UK who are building their properties
P
lum Pictures, the creators of George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces, are producing a
themselves in the hope of living in their dream home mortgage free. Whether they’ve sold their house to pay off the mortgage and are using the profit or are using their deposit savings instead, this
series will demonstrate alternative routes to traditional mortgaged home ownership as the participants do all they can to escape the label of ‘Generation Rent’ and own the home of their dreams debt free.
Expertise will be provided
by a leading British architect and designer who will be on hand to guide the self-builders through the challenges and rewards of building their own homes.
Building your own home - what can Councils do to help
Many self-build registers are now set up, and the government's self-build portal lists much of the country as having minimal plots available. Writing before the government announced its plan to directly commission the construction of ‘starter’ homes on publicly owned land Partner and Head of Planning at Ashfords LLP, John Bosworth and Trainee Solicitor, Lee Ward discuss what Councils can now do to help potential self-builders
B
uilding your own home is commonplace in countries including Austria, Belgium and Germany. In fact
in Austria self-build properties make up 80 per cent of the new homes constructed there each year. In contrast, self-build properties in the UK account for just 10 per cent of all annual new builds. Why the UK has failed to follow the trend
of its European counterparts is unclear, especially since a self-build can prove a cheaper alternative to buying from a developer or private individual. Therefore, in the midst of a housing shortfall, a private members bill has recently been put before Parliament to help address this issue.
Right to build initiative
The result was the enactment of the Self-build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015 which gained Royal Assent on 26 March 2015. The Act requires ‘certain public authorities to keep a register of individuals and associations of individuals who wish to acquire serviced plots of land…[and] to have regard to those registers in carrying out planning and other functions.’
Self-build registers
Whilst many of the registers are now set up, the government's self-build portal lists that much of the country, specifically the South West, South East, Greater London, East Anglia and the West Midlands as having minimal plots available, or as it terms it:
The Act however, makes two key provisions, which are summarised in the explanatory notes, which accompany the Act: • Relevant authorities to maintain a register of people who are seeking to acquire a serviced plot in their area in order that they may build houses for them to occupy as homes; and • Certain authorities (broadly, local authorities) to have regard to the demand for custom build housing as evidenced by the registers when exercising certain functions including those relating to
“Good plots can be hard to find". Understandably, local authorities do not
have sites just sitting around waiting for self-build development and the Act does not go so far as to require local authorities to make land available. To do so could prove problematic where land just is not available.
Lee Ward John Bosworth planning and housing.
The first question is, whether or not these registers will be utilised by the public Only time will tell. However, on the assumption the registers are widely used and that a large number of people wish to build their own home, rather than buy 'off the rack', the important question will be the impact that the second provision will have on the functions of local authorities. The functions, which relate to planning
and housing also extend to ‘the disposal of any land of the authority and regeneration’. Local authorities could find that when they sell off surplus land they are required to at least consider whether the terms of the sale should include an element of self-build.
Public sector buildings
In addition to this, the Act could also have an impact on the disposal of public sector buildings. Public bodies could find themselves, where there are unused or dilapidated public sector buildings within its control, making these available for demolition and allocating some or all of the land for self-build development. Will the Act have any real and noticeable
impact on the UK housing shortage It seems unlikely, at least in the short-term. One effect it may have is to shift allocation of the re-use of public sector buildings to the self-build sec- tor and/or make land disposal decisions, which fail to take account of the needs of the self-build sector to be unlawful.
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selfbuilder & homemaker
www.sbhonline.co.uk
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