When the Conservative Party won the 2019 general election, it did so on a pledge to help those with dreams of self building — make it a reality.
Their manifesto vowed to "support community housing by helping people who want to build their own homes find plots of land" and to achieve this, a report by Richard Bacon, MP for South Norfolk, was commissioned with the goal of boosting custom andself buildhomes from 13,000 to 40,000 annually.
四年后,德水准测量的数据partment shows that planning applications in England have hit a record low, with permissions for self builds in particular falling to their lowest levels since records began. Self build figures in the final quarter of 2022 also reached record lows, outlining significant issues for those interested in constructing their own homes.
And experts are pointing the finger at the government's policies, calling for immediate action to rectify the barriers still being faced by those hoping to build their own homes.
Some councils are failing to grant any self build plots
In the last quarter of 2022 (October to December), there was a 13% drop in the number of planning applications, as well as a 12% drop in the number of those that were granted, according tofigures from the Office for National Statistics. Overall, the number of applications that were granted last year were down 11% from the year before.
Additionally,government figures showpermissions granted for plots for custom and self builds decreased by 23% in the year to 30 October 2022, and planning permissions for self build homes specifically decreased by 11%.
Even more concerningly, one out of every five local planning authorities in England did not approve any self build or custom build housing in the year leading up to October 2022.
Calls for a shake-up of the planning system
Commenting, Castell Group director of property developers, Dorian Payne, criticised the UK planning system, describing it as an "omnishambles". Payne suggested that obtainingplanning permissionis more of a "submit and cross your fingers" approach and the planning system is "part of the problem not, as it should be, the solution".
Meanwhile Stewart Baseley, Executive Chairman of the HBF, attributed the decline in planning permissions to the government's "anti-development policies and an overall negative stance on homebuilding" and expressed concerns that this could be just the beginning of a more significant issue.
Brian Barry, chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), recommended increased funding for local authority planning departments, including hiring and training more planning staff, and a greatly simplified planning process to get homes out of "planning purgatory".
Failure of the Right to Build scheme
Councils have been required to maintain a register of individuals interested in pursuing self or custom builds in their region since the introduction of Right to Build measures in 2016.
The registry's primary objective is to offer councils a clearer understanding of the demand for self build homes in their locality, allowing them to consider it when preparing local plans, negotiating with developers, and disposing of surplus land.
然而,委员会没有义务提供specific types of sites that people are looking for, despite being responsible for ensuring an adequate number of plots are available to meet local demand. Furthermore, the number of councils with adopted percentage policies for self build plots has only increased by five from the previous year, with 39 councils adopting the policy and 49 having a draft policy.
One reason for the lack of supportive policies in theRight to Buildlegislature is the suspension of the local plan process by many councils due to proposed changes to planning regulations by Michael Gove. Additionally, Gove's changes to planning rules last year made it easier for local authorities to avoid designating sites for development by removing the requirement to demonstrate sufficient land for five years of new construction.
Self build plots sold to developers instead
对构建的目的是提供足够的nd for the needs of self builders but according to Michael Holmes, "Right to Build has failed to deliver" as the legislation relies on local authorities agreeing to assign plots for custom and self builders. The problem is that local authorities aren't doing this and instead are selling building plots to developers rather than prioritisingserviced plots for individuals.
Local authorities frequently cite a shortage of land as the reason for not offering sufficient service plots to self builders so in an effort to tackle the problem, Prime Minister Liz Truss proposed constructing more homes on green belt land. However, this was short lived as after being replaced by Rishi Sunak, focus shifted back to building only onbrownfield sites.
Encouraging building on green belt land by easing planning restrictions continues to be the main solution for local authorities to meet local demand by providing a greater variety ofplot typesfor self builders and housebuilding in general.
The National Federation of Builders (NFB) believes a more nuanced discussion about the greenbelt is required as the government should be "exploring ways to build on green sites within existing communities" to help provide "new rural housing".
Meanwhile, Rico Wojtulewicz, head of housing and planning policy at the House Builders Associations (HBA), added: "We encourage politicians to reimagine the greenbelt as a tool for prosperity, not a blunt instrument to resist change."
Nutrient neutrality impacting self builders too
The issue ofnutrient neutralityhasn't helped self builders either with building projects delayed and planning decisions stalled as a result.
"Thousands of self build projects are estimated to be stuck in planning limbo due to pollution in rivers, leading to planning delays and obstacles while councils strive to restore nutrient neutrality in rivers," reports Homebuilding's Jack Woodfield.
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was updated in December to make nutrient pollution calculations region specific in a bid to help building work continue.
Ditched housebuilding targets also to blame
The Conservatives originally promised to build 300,000 new homes annually, which prompted local authorities to set ambitious housing plans and offer incentives to housebuilders, including custom and self builders.But after internal infighting, the target was scrapped with Michael Gove, the Secretary for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities eventually downgrading the policy to make the housing target only "advisory".
Timothy Douglas, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Propertymark, said the government needed to "address the issues rather than step back" calling it a "worrying" mindset. Research by the Home Builders Federation (HBF) showed that 30 local authorities reduced, delayed, or stalled their housebuilding plans in the months leading up to Gove's decision to drop the mandatory target, and another 25 have done so since.
Michael Holmes, Chair of the National Custom and Self Build Association (NaCSBA), also criticised the decision and said that the government had created a "perfect storm" for reducing housebuilding, adding that the removal of planning targets gave local authorities the right to ignore the needs of developers and self builders, contributing to the decline of the sector.
