£25m fund to help custom- and self-build developments

The government has launched a £75m scheme to release more brownfield land for development. The funding includes £25m for councils to prepare sites and infrastructure for self and custom builds.

The fund, coordinated by One Public Estate, a partnership between the Office of Government Property (OGP), the Local Government Association (LGA) and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is inviting local authorities to bid for capital grant funding for projects before June 2. 

The government-funded Right to Build Task Force is encouraging as many councils as possible to apply. “This will make a genuine difference to those authorities working to deliver a more diverse route to delivering high-quality housing, said its acting head, Mary Elkington. 

”Support for replicable exemplars of this innovative route to housing helps in scaling up custom and self build. These sites will showcase the wide range of benefits that custom and self build can deliver, complementing wider housing delivery,” she said.

Funding is available to local authorities for site levelling, preparation and groundworks, small-scale infrastructure, highway works for access, addressing environmental constraints and providing services to plots.

20 April 2021