Self and custom-build housing

HO5: Self and custom-build housing. Self-build and custom housebuilding will be permitted, if the proposed development accords with the policies of this plan. 1. On sites delivering 50 or more dwellings, provision will be made for serviced plots for selfbuild and custom housebuilding equivalent to at least 5% of the total number of market dwellings, unless it is demonstrated through robust evidence that a lower proportion is necessary to ensure the viability or deliverability of the development. 2. Serviced plots should: a) be appropriately located within the site and, where practicable, be grouped together. b) be provided with appropriate access and services; and c) integrate positively with the overall design and layout of the development. 3. Provision and delivery of serviced plots will be secured through a planning obligation which will include: a) timing and phasing of plot delivery. b) a marketing strategy. c) mechanisms to ensure plots are offered for self/ custom build before alternative forms of development are permitted. 4. Once serviced, plots must be marketed for a period of at least 24 months, unless otherwise agreed by the local planning authority. Where plots remain unsold after this period, they should: a) continue to be marketed for self or custom build. b) be offered to the Council or a Registered Provider before they may be built out by the developer for market housing. 5.Each serviced plot must be accompanied by a plot passport, setting out the key design parameters and requirements for development, unless an alternative design coding approach has been agreed that achieves an equivalent outcome. 6.For the purposes of this policy, self-build and custom housebuilding will be defined in accordance with the relevant legislation 7.30 ‘Self-build’ is the practice of creating an individual home for yourself. The self-builder’s input into this process may vary, from undertaking the actual building work to contracting it all out to an architect or building company or contracting the development of the shell of a building before completing the internal work themselves. ‘Custom Build’ housing is where the home is custom built to the individual’s specification, as opposed to being designed and built by a construction company to a standard specification for sale. It can also be built or commissioned by individuals or groups of individuals. 7.31 The legal definition of self-build and custom housing, contained in the Self-Build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015 (as amended by the Housing and Planning Act 2016), is ‘the building or completion by individuals, associations of individual, or persons working with of for individuals or associations of individuals, of houses to be occupied as homes by those individuals… (but) does not include the building of a house on a plot acquired from a person who builds the house wholly or mainly to plans or specifications decided or offered by that person’. 7.32 Under the Act, the Council is obliged to maintain a register of people who are seeking to acquire land to build their own home in Buckinghamshire. The Act also obliges the Council to give enough development permissions for serviced plots to meet the demand from the people on the register – Policy HO5 aims to help achieve this. 7.33 The NPPF (2024 para. sixty-three) states that planning policies should reflect the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community, including people who wish to commission or build their own homes. Supporting the delivery of self- build or custom housebuilding can contribute to greater housing choice and potentially provide lower cost options for households than the traditional housing market. It can also result in innovative and sustainable design and construction, and result in high quality, efficient homes. 7.34 The plot passport should set out the rules for design, as well as a summary of the main features to be delivered. The passports will serve as a key reference point for the purchaser, capturing relevant information from the planning permission, design code, design constraints and procedural requirements in a simple format. They must include, as a minimum: a) the plot location and size. b) back-to-back distances. c) permissible building lines. d) side spacing requirements. e) developable footprint. f) building height restrictions. g) boundary treatments; and h) parking and cycle storage.