NaCSBA’s Scottish Working Group, led by Angela Doran (NaCSBA’s Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Executive Committee Member) has held its second meeting to discuss the unique Scottish self and custom build sector and the progress that needs to be made over the coming months.
‘Theres a great deal going on in Scotland at the moment with regards to both self and custom build,’ says Angela. ‘Scottish Government Planners appear to be encouraging self build with relaxed planning zones being piloted in four councils, which is very promising. In addition, a White Paper/planning is review currentlyout for consultation, and I am soon meeting with senior planners to discuss how they can encourage more self and custom build development.’
‘Also worth nothing is that there has been a steep increase in enquiries from those interested in developing co-housing projects, with six distinct groups emerging in Glasgow alone.’
The Working Group discussed a list of action points to work on over the coming months. These are:
- Encouraging registers within local Councils
- Progressing simplified planning zones/design code approaches in collaboration with Scottish Government and Local Councils.
- General education/advertising of self build in order to raise awareness among professionals and the public of what it actually involves.
- Working to extend the Highland Loan Fund throughout Scotland and push for a Help to Build scheme within Scotland, or possibly as Infrastructure Fund.
- Recognising self build as an affordable option and pushing for it to be included in Section 75 Agreements (encourage developers to set aside part of their sites for self build).
In addition to Angela, those in attendance were Tom McSherry (Buildstore), Neal Doggett (Q Assure Build), Gordon Nelson (Federation of Master Builders), Daniel McKendry (Architecture & Design Scotland), Dave Fenwick (J & E Shepherd), Mike Cruikshank (Scotframe), Pat Hynds (SIPS Industries), Allan Corfield (AC Architects) and Raffaele Esposito (Glasgow City Council, Principal Officer, City Design).
