NaCSBA recently shared its activities and priorities with its members around the current stay-at-home measures using the Zoom digital platform, which was well received by members and a few guest attendees.
With such a wide-ranging membership, quality engagement can be difficult to achieve, but the digital format worked well for providing updates and taking comment, and looks set to be a preferred route for NaCSBA to share its work with members.
During the call NaCSBA CEO Andrew Baddeley-Chappell set out the body’s latest activities working with government during the Covid-19 stay at home measures, and supporting self builders to stay working safely on site.
It also updated members with the latest data about the now completed Freedom of Information request, setting out the scenario around the Right to Build registers.
Questions that came up on the call included a range of topics, but many of them dealt with concerns around the lack of clarity to do with the legislation, or its implementation. These included issues around:
- Confusion around the monitoring of plot provision and enforcement of the need for authorities to meet demand;
- Community Infrastructure Levy self build exemptions and spec builds;
- Paragraph 64 of the NPPF and the status of self and custom build as being exempt from affordable homes contributions; and
- Confusion that stems from the lack of clarity of definitions between self and custom build.
Following the success of the event, NaCSBA is looking into how it can use the digital format to update members more regularly, and also tap into their needs and ideas for improving the opportunities around the sector.
