UK Housing Minister Shapps Encourages Self Built Homes
The UK housing minister, Grant Shapps, is urging mortgage providers to lend more money to people who want to build their own home. He is striving to create a revolution of new owner built homes in the UK and dismiss the idea that self-built homes are something only the ultra-rich of the country are privy to. A small number of self-built homes are put up each year – only about 15,000. The sector itself still falls short in number compared to most other regions of Europe.
Shapps stated in a recent letter to popular mortgage lenders, "I want to create a self-build revolution where building your own home is not just the preserve of the privileged few.
"As the mortgage market continues its recovery, lenders have the ideal opportunity to diversify lending into areas such as this."
Two problems with the progressive thought of new owner built homes remain – planning and regulatory restrictions will have to become much more relaxed than they are now. And, lenders will have to lower their guard, so to speak, due to the increased risk of the full construction of a home meeting completion or the entire project falling apart.
A self-builder living in Ashley Vale in Bristol, believes self-building could be the answer to the increasing number of repossessions. He said: "It's put us in a really safe position, where we're not mortgaged up to the hilt to try and have a house," he said
"If we could give people more control over the homes they're going to live in, we won't have those problems into the future."