Building your own home could soon become easier after the government gave its approval to proposals to ‘scale up’ the self-build and custom-build markets.
There are thousands of people keen to design and build their own home from scratch but due to legislation, tax and other hurdles it has not been an easily accessible route to homeownership.
However, a review commissioned by the Prime Minister, aims to change this and has been examining how the self-build market can help to boost the overall housing supply in the country by creating more choice and affordable options for people.
It offers steps which government is urged to take to make self-build a major contributor to new homes in the UK.
The ‘Bacon Review’ – named after Richard Bacon MP, who is leading the examination – lists a number of steps the government must take in order to achieve this.
They include setting up a specific ‘plot delivery team’ to ensure there are readily available designated places to build the new properties.
And the review urged the government to increase and simplify the process of community-led building.
Raymond Connor, CEO of Buildstore, which helps people with their self-build projects from finding a plot of land through to specialist mortgage advice, explained custom build, and in particular the creation of customisable homes, featured highly in the report.
He explained: “The economic analysis in the report highlights the many financial and social benefits to increasing self and custom build which is described as the ‘missing market’.”
He explained there were 100,000 plus people who are actively looking for plots on which to build their own homes, and he therefore welcomed the plans for plot delivery.
Mortgage options
However, he said one hurdle still to cross for potential self-builders was the lack of mortgage options available.
“If the assertion that self and custom build should comprise 100k homes each year we will need to see an increase in the number of lenders in the marketplace,” he said.
“BuildStore is seeing an increase in interest from lenders and actively negotiating with several of them to bring more mortgages to the market later this year.”
The proposals come just after the government committed £150 million for the Help to Build scheme which will allow home builders to borrow money with lower deposits.
Housing Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP said: “As we build back better we want to help more people build their own home, making it an option for thousands who’ve not considered it or ruled it out before.
“This will help get more people on to the housing ladder, ensure homes suit people’s needs whilst providing an important boost to small builders and businesses too.”
The Bacon Review recommendations also include proposals to create a custom and self-build ‘Show Park’ to demonstrate the benefits.
It also wants to promote greener homes and increase the use of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) as well as tighten legislation and iron out tax issues to make self-build more accessible.
Source: whatmortgage
