The 30th October 2019 marks the date on which councils must demonstrate whether they have granted sufficient ‘development permissions’ for the 18,000 people signed up to their local Custom and Self Build register for the first partial year, which ran between 1st April – 30th October 2016. The 30 October is the close of first three-year base period for the Self Build and Custom Build registers.
Each year NaCSBA conducts a Freedom of Information request to all English authorities that the legislation applies to, including county, borough and district councils and national parks. The 2018 data illustrated that the level of activity, and the numbers signed up to the registers, is very mixed across the country, creating a postcode lottery of provision.
Assessing demand on the registers
Following the Right to Build Day, NaCSBA will be conducting its annual Freedom of Information request to establish how many of the 18,000 plots have been permissioned, demonstrating which local authorities are championing the rights of their residents in the area of Custom and Self Build, and which are failing in their duty.
NaCSBA will be sharing this information with Government in attempt to create a more equitable approach to fulfilling the duties imposed by the legislation in future.
As established in Sir Oliver Letwin’s Independent Review of Build Out, it is now accepted that the types of homes built affects build out rates, as the market will only absorb so many of a similar type of home types in any one period, which has a limiting effect on housing supply and market competition.
NaCSBA believes that not only does Custom and Self Build give more people more choice in the types of home they need and want to live in, but that the sector delivers valuable additional homes to supplement the housing created by the volume house builders. This has the potential to support Government’s target of reaching a housing supply market that creates 300,000 new homes annually by the mid 2020s.
Andrew Baddeley-Chappell, CEO, National Custom and Self Build Association said: “Our housing market is so broken that in the 21st century most people do not want to buy a new home and most consider it is normal to have to choose a new home that someone else has decided that you will like.
“The sector has had to wait a long time since the legislation was passed but we are now able to find out for certain how effective it has been. Our annual research and the work of the Right to Build Task Force has helped us to identify good, bad and some downright ugly performance from Local Authorities, and we will hold the government to its commitment to consider taking further action including possible changes to legislation if they do not believe sufficient action is being taken.
“Ongoing annual targets will mean local authorities will now need to continue to ensure a regular pipeline of new plots, enabling more wonderful new homes to be built and in doing so create a virtuous cycle of increased public awareness, increased opportunities and increased supply of custom and self build homes. The UK’s period at the bottom of the world league for the numbers of custom and self build homes may at last be coming to an end.”
Image by digitalrealmedia from Pixabay
