The government’s housing and regeneration agency, Homes England, has published its five year vision in a new strategic plan, which restates its commitment to custom and self build (CSB). It will continue funding Help to Build, an equity loan fund to help consumers access low deposit mortgages, as well as establish the Self-Commissioned Homes Delivery Unit, delivering on a recommendation in Richard Bacon MP’s independent review into scaling up custom and self build housebuilding. The latter will support the creation of serviced plots where possible as well as community-led housing schemes.

The Self-Commissioned Homes Delivery Unit will also aim to promote and deliver modern methods of construction (MMCs), which are already widely used in the CSB sector. The government links sustainability ambitions closely with the use of MMCs to deliver greener homes. Such systems are considered a good choice for self commissioned homes, resulting in high-quality, energy efficient properties that can be completed fairly quickly.

The government’s initial response to the Bacon Review was published a year ago. At the time, former NaCSBA CEO Andrew Baddeley-Chappell said of the news: “The response to the Bacon Review delivers an important platform for growth of the CSB sector. The government’s detailed response contains important commitments with regards to Homes England, Help to Build and the Right to Build legislation. It is, however, relatively high level, and in some areas – notably tax – there is less definitive commitment than we would have liked to see. In these areas, we will continue to support Richard Bacon MP in ensuring the necessary changes are brought in to deliver the major scaling up that is at the heart of this work.”

29 June 2023