Custom building update

This is a blog about the law relating to self and custom building and how it is working. The Government publicise data on the working of the Act that shows between 31 October 2022 and 30 October 2023, - 4,849 new individuals joined the register and 2,436 were removed, a net increase of 2,413 • 64,233 individuals were on the register as at 30 October 2023, an increase of 4% from 31 October 2022[ • 81 new groups joined the register and 28 were removed, a net increase of 53 • 747 groups were on the register as at 30 October 2023, an increase of 8% from 31 October 2022[ • 5,182 planning permissions were granted for serviced plots suitable for self and custom build, a decrease of 18% from the previous year There is a three year rolling programme so relating households and groups to the provision cannot be exact but there seems to be a considerable shortfall in supply. And demand seems to be growing if not to the levels found by NACSBA in their Mori survey that several million households would like to custom build.The increase in 'groups' is also interesting. In my much more limited survey I can find no recognition of the potential of custom-splitting as a way of meeting the demand for custom-building, meeting housing needs through more efficient use of existing housing stock, ensuring that space and fabric being insulated and heated is meeting housing needs, improving mobility and accessibility and reducing the need for new building with upfront carbon emitted at levels that threaten carbon budgets for the whole economy. I have asked the Department of Housing and Communities whether the above data represents a satisfactory implementation of the Act requiring a proportionate number of serviced plots to be provided and will blog the reply. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/self-build-and-custom-housebuilding

Hoisted by its own petard or the Climate Change Act

The Labour Government seems to have lost any sense its members might have had about the legal requirement to comply with the Climate Chnage Act 2008 that was its branchild. Two Tory attempts to produce a compliant carbon reduction plan were rejected by the High Court and Labour has until May 2025 to do better. The main thrust of policy is to generate economic growth which is not a distraction from complying with carbon reduction budgets but, the ways in which Labour proposing, will inevitably fail and presumably attract the ire of the Courts. The 1.5m new houses (some in remote green belt locations and new settlements) could wipe out the whole carbon budget were they to occur (highly unlikely given the way in which the housing inductry is configured). Then there is an announcement that all the expansion plans of regional airports (and road building) are being supported. Under the radar is the electrification of the steel production industry that had been reliant on coal. There is now the quantum leap in AI that implies a massive increase in internet servers. And there are policies and incentives supporting the electrification of heating and road transport. The former is reliant on heat pumps (boiler upgrade scheme) and the latter on charging a growing fleet of millions of EV cars, vans, lorries and buses. If the building industry moves to Modern Methods of Construction this will add to the demand for electricity. Those vehicles being replaced will continue to emit greenhouse gases, and drive at inefficient and highly polluting speeds unless they are re-powered and the speed limit is reduced to 50mph (or below). Some of this growth will maintain if not increase the demand for fossil fuels and some will exceed the ability of the generators and distributors to supply low carbon electricity. I can't see any sector that will reduce demand to any material extent and I doubt that the Court will be convinced by the promises of carbon capture or any other carbon negative technologies. And all this will be occurring as global temperatures have moved past 1.5 degrees C and after the Prime Minister has been on record as increasing the Government's ambition in terms of the speed of carbon reduction??