housing inquiry
Potential revealed for thousands of new self-builds T
he Government could unlock the supply of tens of thousands of new homes a year from small, self, custom and community
builders according to an inquiry by the National Housing Taskforce. The New Sources of Supply Inquiry, led by
the National Community Land Trust Network, has been looking into new sources of housing supply that have the potential to combat the nation’s housing crisis. The Taskforce was set up by the All Party
Parliamentary Group on Housing and Planning and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, after research revealed that there are half as many housebuilders as there were in the early 1990s. Throughout 2016, the Taskforce has been
developing workable proposals for both the Government and industry to address the UK’s
shortage of housing. Fifteen expert witnesses from specialist sectors, councils and lenders – including the National Custom and Self Build Association – spoke at the inquiry and discussed a variety of topics, as well as reviewing examples of best practice in the UK and abroad. Helen Hayes MP, chair of the inquiry, said:
“There is clearly a huge amount of enthusiasm and innovation among small, self, custom and community builders. But our inquiry is uncov- ering a long list of barriers that are frustrating their efforts, whether it’s acquiring land, getting to site, accessing finance, or even just starting up a new community-led housing organisation. “The Government has an opportunity
to take these sectors from the margins and help them become a mainstream part of housebuilding in England. We’ve iden-
tified a lot of practical ways to do
this, and will shortly be making our recommendations.” Subjects covered in detail in the inquiry included: • Releasing more public land and helping local authorities and builders navigate issues like best consideration, competitive procurement and state aid.
• How more private land could be released by thousands of owners who care about stewardship and local communities, particularly through work with community-led providers and if concerns about Right to Buy and Starter Homes are overcome.
• The need for seed-corn finance to take new providers through to the point where commercial lenders will be willing to lend to them, including de-risking projects.
Grand Designs Live: A tree house, expert tips on sustainability, and self-build on a shoestring
and ideas on show to give self-builders inspiration to take away and use in their own schemes. Kevin McCloud of Channel 4’s Grand
G
Designs introduced John Martin and Noreen Jaafar’s Treehouse home, built to Passivhaus
standards in Dursley,
Gloucestershire. The house which is built on long steel stilts, boasts impressive interior and exterior spaces despite only being 200 m2
and air-tight thermal performance. John and Noreen explained to Kevin
how their sustainable ethics combined with a keen focus on keeping costs down had also seen them use reclaimed materials where possible including for interior fixtures and fittings. Their desire to gain views from the main living space also led to an unusual built form with a larger top storey. In a key session in the main theatre offer-
ing Top Tips for Planning Your Own Grand Design, a panel of experts gave their views on practical routes to success. Despite being a project manager, James Bryden of CLPM told the audience that “you don’t nec- essarily need a project manager until you have planning permission, because you don’t necessarily have a project.” In a Q&A session, architect
Jillian Mitchell of Project Logistics Architecture
rand Designs Live, held last month at the NEC in Birmingham, saw a wide range of projects, products
said: “I don’t want clients to tell me the solu- tion, I want them to tell me the need.” Asked to give three ‘top tips’ for self-
builders, the varied panel were in general agreement that being clear on how much you have available to spend is crucial. The winner of this year’s Self Build on a
Shoestring competition was announced by TV’s Charlie Luxton at Grand Designs Live. Planning and design consultancy Barton Willmore was presented with its award for its Ecomotive design (see illustration), and took away a £5,000 prize. A longlist of 12 strong entries was whit-
tled down to a shortlist of five before the winner was announced. The top five were: Design Research North, Harper Perry, Clear Architects, Lewis Williams of Davies Sutton and Barton Willmore with Ecomotive. The judges included celebrities such as Kevin McCloud, Charlie Luxton, George Clarke and Gerardine and Wayne Hemingway. RIBA self-build champion Luke Tozer was
also among the judging panel along with Lord Gary Porter, the former leader of the Local Government Association. The competition is organised annually by
NaCSBA (The National Custom & Self Build Association) and this year it chal- lenged entrants to come up with innovative ways of building a modest Starter Home that could be built for under £50,000.
selfbuilder & homemaker
www.sbhonline.co.uk
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grand designs live
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