30.10.19
Custom and Self Build housing supported by over half of English Local Authorities
Following an analysis of all present and developing local plans from across England, the Right to Build Task Force has discovered that more than half of all local planning authorities (58%) now have, or are bringing into effect, local plan policies that support Custom and Self Build housing delivery. This is up from 24% in 2015.
This is good news in the run up to Right to Build Day on the 30th of October in 2019, the first date when authorities have to show that they have matched numbers on their Right to Build registers with adequate development permissions.
Local plans are an important tool available to aid authorities meet their legal duties under the Self – Build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015. The assessment revealed that 76% of authorities who have formed a local plan after the legislation was introduced, how have a planning policy which support Custom and Self Build housing, up from 13% from the pre-legislation position prior to April 2016.
It also found that while adopted post-legislation plans are becoming more determined, with a range of approaches emerging in practice, few offer the necessary meaningful support within the spirit and Government policy. Most only include vague policies supporting Custom and Self Build housing in principle, without enabling development to come forward.
Mario Wolf, Director of the Right to Build Task Force, said: “The Right to Build Task Force works with a range of stakeholders, many of whom are local authorities, to facilitate Custom and Self Build, and welcomes the findings that two thirds of English authorities now have policy provision for Custom and Self Build. However, our research has also found that there is a long way to go. It is unacceptable that almost 5 years on from the 2015 Act that almost one in three adopted post-legislation plans and one in four emerging local plans are making no provision for Custom and Self Build housing. We hope that those authorities without policies will soon act to ensure that their local plan facilitates more local communities to build owner-commissioned homes.”
Graph Credit: Assessment of all Local Plans in England, Right to Build Task Force, August 2019