With the recent change in government, followed by the King’s Speech, there is a lot of anticipation regarding the proposed changes to the Housing Sector. Not surprisingly, there was significant focus on this topic at the Custom & Self Build Conference organised by the National Custom & Self Build Association (NaCSBA) that took place early October at the National Self Build and Renovation Centre in Swindon. Other highlights of the day included a case study delivered jointly by the Local Planning Authority and Self Builder as well as a look ahead to the future of the industry.
POLICY AND POLITICS
The new government is promising 1.5 million homes delivered during this parliament. Delivery of homes typically is focused on the larger mechanisms provided by developers. The role of Custom and Self Build (CSB) is often overlooked for the powerful role that it could play in helping achieve this aggressive target.
NaCSBA is working on behalf of CSB to elevate its potential. It is trying to achieve this by leveraging existing legislation to ease the path to gaining planning permission through the local authorities, increase availability of small development sites and put in place mechanisms to guarantee a ‘piece of pie’ for CSB within larger development sites.
Their work has resulted in recent and past successes. The Bacon Report, published in 2022, brought attention to the need to scale up the Custom and Self Build sector. Several notable outcomes have been the establishment of a CSB delivery unit within Homes England, greater focus on the Right to Build Register (as well as its shortcomings) and promotion of more sustainable home construction. Recently, they have found success in providing evidence that resulted in the reduction of risk rates related to individual builders. There is still work that continues related to each of these agendas but positive strides forward have been made and continue.
It is anticipated that the changes to Planning Policy will require two terms to fully realise but for the government to achieve their aggressive goals, it will be necessary to action their recommendation for changes to move into consultation within the coming months. Andrew Baddeley-Chappell, Policy Director for NaCSBA, spoke about the key changes the CSB industry would like to see and communicated these to the new government:
- Mandatory assessment of current housing
- Broadened definition of brownfield
- Identification of grey belt opportunities within the Green Belt
- Demand for a diversification of housing as defined within planning regulations
Many individuals will be curious about the timescales for seeing real and tangible change relative to current policy. James Corbet Burcher, a barrister with No. 5 Chambers, anticipates that new planning policy is likely to be introduced in summer or autumn of 2025. However, he also noted that this is likely to slip due to transitional local plans. Whilst incremental changes are expected to be seen from late next year, it is likely that the full impact of the policy changes will not be realised until 2026 or 2027.
PLANNING AND DELIVERY- WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Although planning via appeal is never the preferred method of acquiring permission, there is precedence for successful appeal in favour of Custom and Self Build. Whilst the process moving through the local planning authorities (LPA) is often limited within Green Belt areas and proximity to Grade II listed assets, Andy Moger, director of Tetlow King Planning, shared several examples where the appeal response gave additional weight to proposals within local authorities where Self Build demand is not met. Local Authorities (LA) have a statutory requirement to accurately record Self Build interest and to meet that demand. Often the LA will report that their 5-year housing is met but on closer look, this may be supported by little evidence that Self Build interest is met within that 5-year housing demand. Appeal cases have been successful in documenting the speculative nature of much of the housing demand that had been reported as being ‘met’. The Right to Build Task Force has provided evidence to support the fact that Custom and Self Build proposals typically provide immediate supply and are successful in providing benefit to the local economy and reduction in carbon footprint.
Attendees to the conference had the opportunity to hear from a LPA and a self build project within this authority. This talk was moderated by Sally Tagg, acting head of the Right to Build Task Force who brought her experience as a planning consultant as well as her insights within her role at task force. South Gloucestshire has taken their statutory requirements to CSB seriously by appointing Katie Warrington as the Self Build Officer within the local council. They have developed and implemented a specific CSB policy and developed a Self Build Partnership to help accelerate the availability of Self Build plots. This position within the council is focused primarily on the requirement for percentage policies on larger development sites. Whilst this does not ease the path for individual self builders seeking development on a one-off plot of land, it does provide a significant path forward for self builders who are looking for a plot that offers the assurances provided by a serviced plot and development community. South Gloucestshire provides an example of a LA that is taking proactive steps toward improving the ability of Self Builders to develop their individual homes.
THE DATA
The final portion of the conference had a focus on data: Peter Johns, Chief Executive of NaCSBA, spoke about practitioners’ confidence and Demand Analysis; whilst Calum Taylor of Build It Magazine spoke about the findings of the Individual Homes Survey.
Not surprising to any Self Builders reading this article, the Individual Homes Survey revealed that the houses and associated performance desired does not match what is largely being developed and made available to the consumer. We are provided with a deliverable that is developer focused rather than consumer focused.
For any practitioners reading this article, the Self Build registers do not appear to be a true measurement of demand. NaCSBA took on an independent comparison of the Self Build registers with individuals who are subscribing to publications and events hosted by Home Building and Renovating, Build It and National Self Build and Renovation Centre. NaCSBA compiled the postcodes of engagement within each of these organisations, discounted any duplicate postcodes and tallied the total. As compared with the LA’s, this reporting appears to show an under-reporting of approximately 64% of the figures provide within Self Build Registers.
SUMMARY
There is great opportunity for Self Builders within the current government. However, it also requires the government to understand the CSB sector. NaCSBA are making strides to elevate the position of self builders within the housing development sector. Small sites are a critical component for the new government to achieve their new housing targets. Legislation has been put in place; however, it is clear that there is a long process to take place before it will be finalised. NaCSBA have already communicated identified shortcoming of the proposed legislation with specific actionable recommendations. The upcoming consultations will provide insights into the forthcoming policy changes. What is clear is that we must continue to remind the government of the importance of CSB to deliver quality new homes in the UK.
