The first ever National Self Build Week (NSBW) will take place in early May 2013 with a wide-ranging programme of events planned to help millions of Britons turn their self build dreams into a reality.
The news of the initiative coincides with the results of an exclusive Ipsos MORI poll, which shows that around six million people in Briton are currently planning or researching how to build a home for themselves and want to start their new home in the next year or so. The survey also suggests that one million people have already moved from the ‘researching’ to the ‘action’ stage, and are currently in the process of acquiring a building plot, obtaining planning permission or expect to start construction in the next 12 months.
Despite all this interest, in 2012 only around 12,000 Britons managed to build a home this way. And the UK’s self build output is a fraction of that delivered by most European countries.
This mismatch between ‘desire’ to build a home and the actual output clearly highlights the need for NSBW.
One of the key aims of the initiative is to help more people understand the many ways it is now possible to get a home built. For example the Week will help explain what a Custom Build Home is; it will showcase some of the more innovative ways local authorities, specialist developers/enablers and others have been pioneering the delivery of self build homes; and it will provide lots of practical advice for would-be self builders.
NSBW is being organised by the National Self Build Association (NaSBA) and Grand Designs Live, and is supported by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). It will take place from 4-12 May and coincides with the huge Grand Designs Live exhibition that takes place at Excel in London.
Grand Designs presenter and live show host Kevin McCloud said: "The great news is that six million people are looking into the feasibility of undertaking a self build project. But we also know that nowhere near this number currently manage to build a home for themselves every year – in 2012 only around 12,000 people managed to do it. So one of the key aims of the Week is to help would-be self builders climb the learning curve so they really can turn their projects from a dream to a reality. The options out there, from full-on self-build to custom-build and even self-finish homes make it possible for nigh-on everybody.”