But despite encouraging signs “there is still a long way to go”, says Right to Build Taskforce

More than half of local planning authorities across England have made concrete moves to deliver local plan policies which back the delivery of custom and self-build housing.

Research by the Right to Build Taskforce (RBT) found 58% of planning authorities either had in place or were bringing on such policies, up from barely a quarter (24%) in 2015.

But the RBT also found that few councils offered “the necessary meaningful support [for custom and self-build] within the spirit of legislation and government policy” and one in three adopted plans were failing to maked any provision for such schemes.

Under the 2015 Self Build and Custom Housebuilding Act all local authorities in England have to keep a register of people interested in building their own homes, while the following year’s Housing and Planning Act requires councils to grant enough “development permissions” to meet demand for such schemes on a rolling basis.

READ: Is self-build the answer to the housing crisis

The RBT’s research found some local councils were adopting a “package” approach, setting out a wider delivery strategy with a mix of planning policies that they hoped would lead to the speeding up of custom and self-build projects being delivered.

Alternatively, some councils, including Teignbridge district council, adopted a percentage policy, the RBT said. This saw housing land over a certain size in a local plan being required to include a specified proportion dedicated to custom and self-build projects.

Mario Wolf, RBT director, said while two thirds of English authorities had policy provision in place for custom and self-build, “there is still a long way to go”.

Pound Lane, Essex...AOC, Mae, Pitman Tozer, Unboxed Homes

Wolf said: “It is unacceptable that almost five years on from the 2015 Act almost one-in-three adopted post-legislation plans and one-in-four emerging local plans are making no provision for such building activity.

“We hope that those authorities without policies will soon act to ensure that their local plan facilitates more local communities to build owner-commissioned scheme,” he added.

Earlier this week Basildon council in Essex gave the go-ahead for a 12-home custom-build scheme in Laindon (pictured).

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