custom building and more

Gavin Barwell, the new planning and housing minister has said that he wants the rate of self/custom building to double.  Council's are expected to provide the necessary land (the Housing and Planning Act requires the actual demand to be taken from registers of individuals and associations of individuals to whom serviced plots must be provided.
So I have had conversations with  three national housebuilders active in my area; Cala Homes (linked to Legal and General), Miller Homes and Taylor Wimpey (as well as a niche builder called Blue Cedar in the course of a planning appeal). My first question was whether they would be building any  two bedroomed houses, with all facilities on the ground floor (the upstairs fitted out), with big gardens and very low carbon/running costs?  I didn't even mention the installation of PV.  None were shown on their draft or permitted plans.

The next question was whether they would sell me a plot and build a house to my design?  "We are national builders and build our own house types", is where they are still at, whilst denying any  knowledge  of the Housing and Planning Act, let alone any responsibility for helping LPAs to provide the serviced plots for people on the registers.

I see this as a teaching/learning exercise for them, me and in the case of Blue Cedar, the planning inspector. If 8 million people are really keen to downsize (see the All Party Parliamentary Group on Housing fro the Elderly and HAPPI), then the national housebuilders should be investigating how to meet this need - much of it from people with equity to be released from more valuable properties.

An important- no very important - point to make is that there is provision for non-material amendments to be accepted by LPAs without the need for fresh applications.  The judgement of what is non-material one for the LPA but has to be made in the context of the permission as a whole.  In the case of say development of 50 dwellings it would be entirely reasonable for the LPA to agree that a change to a house type (or two or three) would not require a fresh application.  This would remove one of the objections from the housebuilder.

On larger sites the builder might only be expecting to build 30 to 40 units per year so the sale of plots in a discrete part of the site should not interfere with progress over the rest,  From Gavin Barwell's point of view there would be greater certainty that self-build dwelling would be complete than those being built and sold into a precarious housing market. Win-win.

Jobs for the weekend: ask these questions at your local sales office.  Suggest that the LPA or neighbourhood planners support custom building in this way, and write to DCLG/Gavin Barwell making these points. If you have not already done so he also needs reminding that DCLG reasearch shows that subsidising the demand for home ownership through Help to Buy actually reduces the number of people able to afford to buy through inflating prices - as per schoolboy/girl economics.