Today, Teignbridge unveiled two new guides to help communities and builders provide more custom and self build homes, produced with support from the Right to Build Task Force.
Designed specifically for community groups and neighbourhood planning groups, “A guide to delivering custom and self build housing developments in your community” will help residents, parish and town councils and community land trusts comprehend how communities can go about custom and self build housing and the role that the Neighbourhood Plan can play in bringing them forward. This provides greater choice, and supports housing diversity to reflect local needs, beyond what the open market delivers.
The second guide helps landowners and building firms understand opportunities presented by self and custom build. “How the private sector can get involved in delivering more custom build homes in Teignbridge” explains the benefits of custom and self build homes by reducing development risk and giving people more choice in the housing market. The guide shows private sector builders, developers, landowners and planning professionals that custom and self build is a viable, profitable housing option, and can be a key route that works for small-and-medium enterprise companies.
Leader of Teignbridge District Council and Right to Build Task Force Deputy Ambassador, Councillor Jeremy Christophers said:
“These Teignbridge handbooks were written by custom and self build experts from the Right to Build Task Force. They show how our communities can take control and provide the homes they need for local people with custom and self build.
“Both guides highlight a new way of delivering local and affordable homes. Local community groups, parish and town councils, landowners and building firms can now really get to grips with these new ways of helping people unlock their own front door in much-needed local homes.
“If you want to find out more about building your own home in Teignbridge, the first step is to download the new guide and add your name to www.teignbridge.gov.uk/selfbuildregister. Or find your local self build register at the National Custom and Self Build Association’s Right to Build Portal: www.righttobuildportal.org.”
Mario Wolf, Director of the Right to Build Task Force, said:
“These Teignbridge handbooks were written by the Right to Build Task Force’s experts, drawing on their experiences across the UK. They’re an invaluable source of information for anyone looking to diversify housing that can be used by councils and other stakeholders working to create housing choice locally.
“The private sector guide supports developers and enablers working to meet local need and speed-up the delivery of a diverse range of homes. This provides an additional route to housing where more plots can be consented for custom and self build. For example, the guide could help farmers diversify and manage development on their land.
“The communities guide is a core text for neighbourhood planning and community groups – that provides a greater understanding of the benefits and challenges of creating self build opportunities locally.
“The Right to Build Task Force supports a range of organisations as they work to create many more custom and self build plots, making it a choice for a far wider range of people. These guides will have a direct positive impact in this ambition.”
Sue Craythorne, Kenton Neighbourhood Planning group said:
“I found the communities guide straightforward to follow, and the common questions section was particularly helpful. The guide offers lots of tips and sources of support. There is some technical language – but having said that, anyone contemplating going down this route will have to deal with all that and more!”
Luke Copley-Wilkins, Carpenter Oak, said:
“Carpenter Oak and Teignbridge District Council are a driving force behind custom build, a new opportunity in the housing market to enable self and custom builders with the confidence and choice to design their home. This is a refreshing approach to our standard housing model in the UK.
“Our 5 plots in Kingsteignton are an exemplar of removing the barriers for landowners who wish to bring smaller plots to market. These guides are the next step in supporting self builders and landowners to bridge the gap, giving them both confidence in response to the housing shortage.”
Landowner Neil Townsend, said.
“Providing 5 custom build plots in conjunction with Carpenter Oak offers me a more certain outcome in terms of design quality and place-making, which is set out clearly within the guide. The guide explains ways that serviced custom and self build plots can be provided, which will be attractive to a range of landowners.”
Anyone interested in building their own home should add their details to their local register at the National Custom and Self Build Association’s Right to Build Portal: www.righttobuildportal.org
