The sites are Urban Pioneers in Middlehaven, Oxley Park in Milton Keynes, Pound Lane South in Basildon, and Lightmoor Village in Telford. They are in addition to eight sites which are already being brought forward by the Homes and Communities Agency.
Housing minister Kris Hopkins said that these new sites will form around 70 plots for new homes. This will add to the 130 plots which are being made available under a government commitment to free up land for those looking to build their own homes.
The custom build sector currently builds about one in 10 new homes in the UK, much fewer than many other European countries and there is substantial growth potential in the market with more people wanting to build their own home than ever before.
Hopkins said that the expansion of this sector presents a significant business opportunity for smaller house builders and provides jobs and work for local architects, builders and local suppliers.
Speaking to the Federation of Master Builders at a summit jointly organised with the National Self Build Association (NaSBA), he urged smaller developers to seize the business opportunity presented by this untapped market, and offer custom build opportunities to the thousands of self builders waiting to get their projects off the ground.
‘We are determined to help aspiring self builders up and down the country who want to build the home of their dreams but can’t find a plot to get started. That’s why we’ve committed to lead the way by making our formerly used public sector land available for self builders, and why today we’re making four further sites available, taking the total to 12,’ Hopkins explained.
‘We are seeing a new kind of house building model emerging in this country and I am pleased to see how positively the development industry and many councils are responding. With the self-build industry contributing some £4 billion annually to the UK economy, I want to encourage more builders to make the most of this business opportunity and offer custom build options on their sites,’ he added.
Brian Berry, chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), said that there should be renewed confidence that there are genuine opportunities to build more new houses. ‘FMB members are well placed to deliver the quality products this new generation of custom build clients demands, that is innovative, affordable and financially viable properties that will ensure diversity in the market and go some way to tackling Britain’s alarming housing deficit,’ he told the meeting.
‘This is why the FMB is taking the lead in working with NaSBA to promote the growth of the custom build sector, including working to develop an online platform which can better link up FMB members experienced in delivering self build and custom build projects with clients who want a home built,’ he added.
Ted Stevens, chair of the NaSBA, said that a recent NaSBA progress report to the government suggested that up to 4,000 additional self or custom build opportunities are currently in the pipeline, thanks to a range of initiatives now being undertaken by the Homes and Communities Agency, and around 50 local councils.
‘This growth will provide opportunities to a large number of small builders. The vast majority of self builders already rely on a local building contractor to build their new homes. There is also an opportunity for some house builders to set themselves up as custom build developers, taking existing tracts of land and carving these up into individual serviced building plots,’ he added.
According to Claire O’Shaughnessy, head of Land and Regeneration at the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), told the meeting that unlocking a supply of land is often a major barrier to getting schemes off the ground. ‘So the sites we have identified will play a small yet significant part in helping aspiring self builders do just that,’ she added.
Hopkins also said that the government is looking to run a pilot project on a further public land site which will test the workability and benefits of disposing serviced building plots on a larger scale. Details of the pilot will be made available shortly.
Custom build or self build homes are homes built or commissioned by individuals or groups of individuals for their own use, either by building the home on their own or working with builders. Custom home building typically involves individuals commissioning the construction of a new house from a builder, contractor or package company or, in a modest number of cases, physically building a house for themselves.
