An Analysis of Self-Build and Custom Housebuilding in the South West of England

Annie Hamilton Gingell,Sina Shahab

doi:10.3390/urbansci5010009

Abstract

This paper seeks to evaluate how successful national policy interventions have been at addressing land barriers to self-build and custom housebuilding when applied by Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) across the South West of England. A longitudinal triangulated mixed method approach was undertaken to comprehensively interrogate the research objective. This comprised submitting a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to each LPA within the study area; an assessment of the most recently produced Strategic Housing Market Assessments (SHMAs); deriving alternative demand estimates using national data as a proxy; and alternate estimates of supply calculated using BuildStore and The Land Bank Partnership plot search websites. The findings of the study revealed that LPA Registers can only be viewed as a minimum assessment of demand for self-build and custom housebuilding and the effectiveness of LPAs in classifying suitable development permissions for self-build and custom housebuilding was highly dependent on the mechanisms used to identify permissions.

Highlights

Self-build and custom housebuilding dwellings as a percentage of national housing completions in England have historically been very low compared to most developed countries [1,2]
The Selfbuild and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015 placed a duty on Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) to keep a statutory Register of those within their respective administrative areas who wish to acquire a serviced plot of land
This study focuses on the South West of England as this region has the highest levels of demand for self and custom build plots in the country [8]

Summary

Introduction

Self-build and custom housebuilding dwellings as a percentage of national housing completions in England have historically been very low compared to most developed countries [1,2]. Existing research highlights access to land, finance, conservative planning policies, and inadequate information as the key barriers preventing the development of the sector in the English housing market [3]. This research seeks to understand how effective the national legislation has been at addressing barriers to land facing prospective self-builders. This study focuses on the South West of England as this region has the highest levels of demand for self and custom build plots in the country [8]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion