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Self build and custom build homes – supply and demand for your local council

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has released a new dataset showing which local planning authorities are succeeding or (in most cases!) failing to provide enough plots for self build and custom build homes.

This is important as local authorities have a statutory duty to provide sufficient plots of self and custom build housing. Recent changes to planning guidance make expressly clear that the Self-build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015 is a material consideration in determining planning applications.


2 minute planning question and answer form

Analysis

The below table sets outs Plainview’s analysis of the MHCLG data.

“Total self build and custom homes granted planning permission” LESS “Total number of people on self build and custom home registers”. The data available is between 2016 and October 2019.

The actual demand is likely to be far higher as many people are unaware of the Self Build register. Latest guidance notes that local authorities should take into account “…secondary sources including data from building plot search websites, enquiries for building plots recorded by local estate agents and surveys of local residents”.

Our top tips for securing planning permission for your self build or custom build home

  1. Register your interest on your local council’s Self Build Register;
  2. When looking at sites make sure it is within a reasonable distance of services and not isolated;
  3. Have a look at your council’s “proposals map” to see if there are any difficult designations such as heritage, green belt, or Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty;
  4. Contact us! selfbuild@plainview.co.uk

At Plainview we regularly help landowners and developers secure planning permission for self build homes. You can read latest case studies here.

We look forward to helping you through your journey to securing planning permission for your very own self build home.