The Government’s initiative to encourage people to build their own houses can help with the housing in the long term.
If self-build is to prosper, it is essential that planners prevent large housebuilding firms from being the only ones with access to land on which to build.
If local authorities were to zone 50% of the available building land for selfbuild use only, it would be a helpful start. After a trial run of around 3 years, they could always increase the proportion to 75%.
What you usually have to do
Find and purchase a suitable site
Secure finance for your project
Hire a suitable architect/designer. You could, of course design it yourself, but don’t underestimate how tricky this is
You will need to project manage all the construction work, find good suppliers and negotiate with suitable sub-contractors and check the quality of their work
Usually you will also do a lot of the hard physical labour yourself – so, for example – you might do all the brickwork or roof tiling, plus the plumbing, the landscaping and decorating. So you may need to improve your building skills or attend a few courses.