Council offers support for building your own home

Plymouth City Council is celebrating the first ever National Self Build Week and calling on prospective self builders to get in touch.

Encouraging people who want to build their own homes is part of the Get Plymouth Building programme that aims to create more affordable housing and help people get on the housing ladder.

A self build champion, Amy Luxton, has been appointed from the Council's Housing Delivery team. Amy will be supporting people who would like to build their own homes and exploring options for sites in Plymouth.

Efforts are being focused on helping provide self builders with access to land at reasonable prices. They would then be legally required to occupy the house themselves.

The Council is already supporting a number of planned developments in the city that include an element of self build. A deal has been agreed for the sale of Council land in Whitleigh on the former Hillside/Woodland school which includes self build plots. Council land was also sold at Bickleigh Down for the development of an eco village with self build options.

Cllr Mark Lowry, Cabinet member for Finance whose portfolio includes housing delivery said: "We are actively promoting self build, we want people to build their own homes and get on the housing ladder. This isn't about huge Grand Designs style houses, this is about anyone who'd like to build a family home to live in and learn skills while they're doing it and I'd urge anyone who's interested to get in touch with Amy.

"Self build is a viable way for us to address the shortage of housing and it's one of a number of ways we are tackling the issue."

Self build champion Amy Luxton will also represent the city at the National Self Build Week, Grand Designs event in London this week.

Anyone interested in self build projects can contact Amy on 01752 307580 or amy.luxton@plymouth.gov.uk.