D I Y HOME CONSTRUCTION

The Government predicted thousands of people will be able to construct their own homes in Grand Designs style under its new Help to Build scheme.

Backed by the offer of a 5% deposit loan, the funding is designed for individuals or families who dream of building their own place but could never afford to do so.

Ministers have committed £150 million to finance this support, which they say may even be within the reach of first-time buyers.

People will be able to borrow between 5-20% of the building costs, or 40% in London, based on total costs of £600,000, or £400,000 if the land is already owned.

Darlington Building Society is the first lender to offer funds under the scheme, and chief executive Andrew Craddock said: “Self-build isn’t the preserve of the wealthy, and Help to Build makes it more practical and accessible than ever before for people to build their dream home. This scheme also opens up opportunities to first-time buyers.”

The government also published its response to the independent review by MP Richard Bacon into scaling up self and custom housebuilding, with a target of 30-40,000 new homes every year.

Self-build revolution

Housing minister Stuart Andrew said: “Through the Help to Build scheme we will help thousands more people onto the property ladder by giving them the opportunity to build homes that are perfectly tailored to their needs and in the communities they want to live in.

“This innovative scheme will build on our work to break down the barriers to homeownership, as well as creating new jobs, supporting the construction industry and kickstarting a self and custom build revolution,” he said.

Measures from the Bacon Review the Government has accepted include:

• A specialist unit within Homes England to bring forward more self and custom build plots on regeneration land across the country.
• Bringing forward legislation through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill to promote self and custom building, including the review of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).
• The Modern Methods of Construction Task Force (MMC) will promote the use of modular factory-build to boost custom homebuilding.

Source: The Negotiator