The Self-build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015 and the Self-build and Custom Housebuilding (Register) Regulation 2016 places a duty on local authorities to keep a register of individuals and associations of individuals who express an interest in acquiring a serviced plot of land in the authority’s area.
In line with the above duty, the city council established a register that has been open for entries from April 2016. The government’s planning practice guidance on self-build and custom housebuilding (paragraph 012) encourages local authorities to publish an annual monitoring report setting out headline data on the demand for self-build and custom housebuilding revealed by their register. Having regard to this the city council has published details of the number of individuals and associations on their register, and the preferences of people on the register with regards to type and size of property required. This data is within the self-build and custom housebuilding monitoring report that can downloaded at the bottom of this page.
As well as having a self-build and custom housebuilding register, local authorities have a duty to grant planning permission for enough suitable serviced plots of land to meet demand (which comes from the number of people on the register). As set out in the monitoring report, the city council has met its duty to grant sufficient planning permissions for the first five base-periods. See annex 1 of the report for further details in relation to the base period 31 October 2019 to 30 October 2020.
In addition to plots that the city council has identified to meet its duty, the monitoring report also contains details of sites / plots that have planning permission (as of 31 March 2023) that the city council considers could potentially be suitable for self-build and custom housebuilding. See annex 2 of the report for further details.
The monitoring report provides direct links to the city council’s planning application register for each of the planning permissions identified. This includes full details of each planning permission, including contact details of the agent / or applicant that obtained planning permission, should anyone wish to further explore the potential opportunities for development of the plots for self-build and custom housebuilding.
If you are unable to view documents of these types, our downloads page provides links to viewing software.
This page was last updated on 5 December 2023