Guest blog: Self-build is essential to supporting the government's ambitious housebuilding targets

Chris Blewitt, Head of Mortgages at Darlington Building Society, explores the potential of the self-build housing market to amplify housebuilding rates, and what is needed to achieve this.

Back to Blogs & Articles Event

This article was first published in Society Matters magazine

Chris Blewitt, Head of Mortgages, Darlington Building SocietyRachel Reeves MP highlighted the new government's plans to build 1.5 million homes in England over the course of this parliament in her inaugural speech as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

As ever, the devil is in the detail, and Darlington Building Society fully supports the government’s  objective to ease the housing crisis.
 
Whilst there were certainly no sweeteners in the Autumn Statement for the residential mortgage market  we remain hopeful that Housing Minister, Matthew Pennycook MP’s enthusiasm towards self-build  provides a brighter future for self-builders. Pennycook has built on his initial enthusiasm for the  self-build sector in a recent letter to the Chair of Homes England. Doubling down on the party’s manifesto to “Get  Britain Building Again” he expressed an expectation of Homes England to “support the reform and diversification of the housing market.” More specifically, he requested “support the self and custom build  and community-led housing sectors.”
 
Amplify progress
 
The new build market in 2023 made for gloomy reading. In 2023, there was a decrease in new home  registrations—the process by which a developer registers their intent to build a new home—to 105,449,  compared to 189,009 in 20221.
 
However, the Right to Build register has over 50,000 signatories so far,  with just 7,000 plot opportunities available. The Planning and Infrastructure bill proposed in the King’s Speech could be a vehicle to  alleviate this issue and open the gates to more self-builders…and therefore more homes. We hope to see movement on this in early 2025.
 
We need housebuilding to be firing on all cylinders to reach the target set out by the Chancellor—50%  higher than the previous 200,000 homes per year target, which was never met. Self-build isn’t the  reserve of the wealthy, with sites such as Graven Hill in Oxfordshire perfectly demonstrating how  accessible and affordable self-build can be on a range of budgets, providing a diverse stock of homes. 
 
Support for self-builders - what does it look like?
 
Like any economic scale, supply and demand drives house prices up and down - and with it, affordability.
 
With 1 in 3 people considering building/commissioning their own home (NaCSBA) the scope to amplify housebuilding rates with self-build is huge. But support for individuals is needed.
 
By increasing its support for independent self-builders the government will clear the path for more to  follow suit, effectively creating a supplementary stream of housebuilding that is not reliant on large corporations and associated red tape delays.
 
In her inaugural speech, the Chancellor laid out plans to review green belt boundaries to prioritise the  1.2 million brownfield sites and newly coined “grey belt” land. This could go some way to providing self-builders with the much-needed land and permissions to build their dream home.
 
Every self-build journey starts with research. Darlington Building Society lends on self-build projects up and down the UK and is partnered with BuildLoan so that aspiring self-builders have access to  experts from pre-planning to unlocking their new front door.
 
Visit the Darlington Building Society website for more information

You may also be interested in...

BSA Card
  • BSA.Event Event
  • Mortgages & Housing

Shaping the Future of the Mortgage Market: Insights on DP25/2

Join PwC and the Building Societies Association for a timely discussion on the FCA’s recent Future of the Mortgage Market discussion paper (DP25/2). ...

Last updated:27 Aug 2025
BSA Card
  • BSA.IndustryResponse Industry Response
  • Conduct Risk & Regulation

BSA responds to FCA CP25/17 - Targeted Support

The BSA welcomes the opportunity to respond to this consultation, which gives a use case of consumers with significant savings held in cash, and some ...

Last updated:27 Aug 2025
BSA Card
  • BSA.Event Event
  • Audit & Taxation

What Labour’s Autumn 2025 Budget means for financial services

A free webinar hosted by BSA Associate, MHA With Chancellor Rachel Reeves set to unveil Labour’s Autumn 2025 Budget by early November, this promise...

Last updated:21 Aug 2025
BSA Card
  • BSA.Event Event
  • Audit & Taxation

HMRC 3rd party data reporting requirements

A free webinar hosted by BSA Associate, PwC We will provide an update on the 3rd party data consultation that was announced in the Spring Statement...

Last updated:17 Jun 2025
BSA Card
  • BSA.Event Event
  • Audit & Taxation

Risk, regulatory, audit and accounting seminar

After a successful in-person event in 2024, and responding to delegate feedback, this year's annual update will once again take place in Birmingham. ...

Last updated:12 Aug 2025
BSA Card
  • BSA.Event Event
  • Mortgages & Housing

Annual meet-up for mortgage professionals

The 2025 Annual Mortgage Meet-up will be taking place in London on Thursday 25th September. Exploring some of the biggest issues shaping the futu...

Last updated:28 Jul 2025
BSA Card
  • BSA.Event Event
  • Conduct Risk & Regulation

Secretaries seminar

The role of a society secretary can be very broad. Beyond the core duties of preparing for board meetings and AGM and minute taking, secretaries are i...

Last updated:18 Feb 2025