Self-build
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government speaks at the Grand Designs Live event at the ExCel centre.
One of British architecture鈥檚 greats, Lord Foster, responsible for London鈥檚 鈥楪herkin鈥� said: 鈥榓s an architect you design for the present, with an awareness of the past, for a future which is essentially unknown.鈥�
It鈥檚 easy to make simple things sounds profound when you鈥檙e that well known. While the future is 鈥榚ssentially unknown鈥�, there is one thing which is quite clear to me.
Grand Designs, or more accurately your Grand Designs, are the landscapes of our future. The most instinctive feeling is to provide for our family. Home ownership is held up as the ultimate aspiration, but just imagine stepping over the doorstep of a home you鈥檝e designed yourself.
There are over 6 million of us with a dream of building our own home. That鈥檚 nearly 10% of the country who could use a DIY manual. We want to make building your own home as easy as possible.
Self-build offers Grand Design style at affordable prices. Custom and self-build needs to play a bigger part in the building mix, as part of our push to get Britain building.
Myth busting
However, there is still a lot of myth-busting to be done. Far from being a preserve of the wealthy, self-build is an affordable and accessible venture.
Last year鈥檚 shortlisted 鈥榮elf build on a shoestring鈥� entries proved that 拢50,000 could build you a family home. Even better still, the winner was a Passivhaus, an energy efficient design which saves the average 3 bedroom household 拢890 per year to heat and light their home.
There is the assumption that because self-build is not common in this country, it must be costly. The truth is quite the opposite. In Austria, 80% of houses are self-builds, and in Berlin, a thriving and bustling city, 1 in 10 are self-builds.
What is seen as a niche product here is standard practice on the continent. I want the UK to catch up, and in doing so, we鈥檒l be creating more jobs for small British building firms, architects and labourers.
Our support for self-build
Our 拢150 million budget boost to self-builders will turn your vision into bricks and mortar. Whilst 10,000 self-builds in 2013 is a good start it doesn鈥檛 reflect the millions who are chasing the self-build dream.
The Right to Build scheme will provide the solid foundation for grand design dreams, unlocking council and other land as a right, rather than a request, to help self-builders secure their desired plot.
Self-builders are also exempt from the community infrastructure levy, saving them on average 拢15,000 for a 4 bed property.
That鈥檚 拢15,000 to put towards a sparkling new kitchen and bathroom.
We are also looking at ways we can extend our hugely successful equity loan scheme to self-builders, so you won鈥檛 just have a Right to Build, but you鈥檒l have , too.
Today, you鈥檒l witness the best work going on in the UK. I hope Grand Designs Live helps you to realise that self-build isn鈥檛 just the stuff of great TV shows, but a possibility for hardworking people of all budgets.
The days of Norman Foster are not behind us, the best is yet to come.
will answer all of the questions you have. It鈥檚 your dream, it should be your execution. I hope you鈥檒l be going away with a blueprint in mind and the confidence to get on and start building your Grand Design.