Housing minister Grant Shapps discussed his vision for community self-build with a panel including Kevin McCloud at Grand Designs Live today.
Shapps said that he wanted to “bring self-build to the masses”, and identified four means of doing so: making it easier for lenders to create specialist finance products for self-builders; bringing the public and private sectors together to increase the availability of land; easing the red tape surrounding planning permission; and creating a more cohesive self-build movement.
The housing minister described the concept of community self-build as “the perfect example of the Big Society”. He also told the audience at the Grand Designs Live Grand Theatre that within the next few weeks he will be announcing the first piece of government land to be handed over for residential development.
Kevin McCloud replied that he was “excited by the government’s enthusiasm”, arguing that Britain is already a “major force” within the housing sector.
However, fellow panellist Ted Stevens, chairman of the National Self-Build Association (NaSBA), was quick to point out how far the UK lags behind other European countries: in Austria, 80 per cent of homes are self-builds, while in the UK the figure stands between five and ten per cent.
Geoff Stow, a self-builder and trustee of the Sustainable Building Association (AECB), welcomed the government’s plans to encourage community self-build, citing several examples of projects that have brought together disadvantaged groups of people. However, he ended on a cautious note, turning to Shapps and saying: “It’s easy to announce headlines but the devil is in the detail.”
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