Housing Strategy promotes self build

Tuesday 22nd November 2011

Government publishes A Strategy for Housing in England which includes key commitments that could mark a significant change in self build

Housing Strategy for England

Yesterday the Government published its Housing Strategy for England. The 80 page document makes key commitments intended to address the current housing issues and unlock the potential of the housing market.

We’ve read through the document to see what this might mean for our potential Potton self builders, and it is good to see that in addition to some ambitious plans, there is to be funding in support of the various initiatives.

Grant Shapps has been waxing lyrical about the benefits of self build, something that we very much welcome. We know just how many Potton followers would love to build their own home, if only they could overcome some of the basic hurdles such as finding land, gaining planning, and sourcing the funds.

In July of this year an “Action Plan to promote the growth of self build housing” was published, produced by a Government-Industry Working Group. Two of Potton’s senior team contributed to the working groups, who considered land, finance, regulation and the self build industry. The recommendations are addressed within the Strategy Document and lead us to believe the future is looking bright for the self build market.

Firstly – land. The Government as a major land owner has committed to releasing public sector land with the capacity for up to 100,000 new homes. Secondly – self build (or to use the document terminology, custom homes) where the stated intention is to support and encourage individuals to build their own homes. They plan to make available up to £30 million of new funding which will support provision of short term project finance on a repayable basis. The timetable is set to confirm the first sites for sale at the end of this year with a report on progress in Spring 2012.

Finance is addressed, including a kick start to the whole housing sector with the creation of a new indemnity scheme for first time buyers and others with only a small deposit. A new build indemnity scheme led by the Home Builders Federation and the Council of Mortgage Lenders will provide up to 95% loan to value mortgages for new build properties in England, backed by a house builder indemnity fund. Starting in Spring 2012, this initiative should start to tackle many of those long term “for sale” boards with new buyers able to access funds.

Particularly of interest to us at Potton is the self build initiative, and the recognition of this sector as valuable contributor to the national economy. The document recognises the untapped potential and that very many more people would love to build their own home if they could do so.

The strategy addresses the Action Plan’s recommendations and the Government are implementing a number of proposals to help the self builder and enable this sector to become a mainstream provider of housing provision – as it is in many other parts of the world.

The report commits to a number of steps including:

• · Asking councils to establish the demand for self build housing in their area, and take positive steps to facilitate it
• · Creating more opportunities to build by accessing land released through the public land disposals programme
• · Providing a £30 million fund – the sector is being consulted now and plans will be published in early 2012.

Also within the Strategy document the Government addresses the commitment to a Zero Carbon Homes standard for all new homes from 2016 – and how they see this being achieved. A revised definition of Zero Carbon was announced alongside the 2011 Budget which reduces the extra costs required for such a build.

It would appear that the zero carbon standard will now focus on high levels of fabric energy efficiency, and that this will be implemented through successive improvement to the Building Regulations. There are also likely to be criteria on the efficient use of water. The next consultation will take place in December 2011 which will consider the revisions to Part L 2013 (conservation of fuel and power). This is good news for Potton customers who can benefit from the work we’ve done on our new Show Barn which complies with level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.

Whilst working on the Action Plan earlier this year, we were cautiously hopeful of positive outcomes. Political agendas can be rather flexible – often depending on public mood – which is why we welcome the Strategy document as a major step in the right direction for self build. This is all happening alongside the Localism Bill – which amongst other aims is designed to address the complexity of the current Planning guidance. Given Royal Assent this month, the Bill is intended to place more power back with the community, and removes Westminster imposed targets which don’t meet local needs.

At Potton we are pleased to see this strong commitment to self build, and will be following the next few steps with great interest. We’ll make sure that we publish the key outcomes right here so that you are aware and informed of any initiatives which will help you build your own Dream home. Full document can be found here.