The ‘Right to Build’ scheme was launched by the government in 2016 in an effort to improve the housing market in the UK. The whole idea was to encourage people to build or commission their own homes instead of purchasing already-built homes.
Under the ‘Right to Build’ scheme, those who want to build or commission their own homes can register online on the Right to Build portal.
The local authorities are required to keep track of the registrations and then to ensure that their areas have a sufficient number of serviced plots with planning permissions ready within three years. (A serviced plot is a piece of land which is prepared and ready for a house to be built on it. It will have access to utilities like electricity, gas, telecoms, water, drainage etc)
Once you purchase a serviced plot, you can either build your own home or ask an architect to build it for you according to your wishes.
Benefits of using ‘Right to build’
You may wonder why you need to build your own home when it seems easier to buy an already-built one.
Have a look at some of the key benefits of building your own home:
- Affordability
Building your own home is often cheaper than buying a built one. First of all, there is no developer profit. And just because of that, you may be saving up to 20%. You can reclaim VAT for materials and labour used as well as save on Stamp Duty Tax.
- Safety & Health
To increase their profit, developers may use cheap materials to build the house. The harmful chemicals from these materials can pollute the air inside the home. But when you build your own home, you can make sure that good quality materials are used.
- Design
When you buy an already-built home, you settle for whatever design choice the developer has made. But when you build your own home, you can decide how many rooms you want, what their size should be, what you want your garden or porch to look like, whether you want a play area or not and so on. You can also make sure that the rooms are brighter with good ventilation and that the house is energy efficient.
If you are going into retirement and are worried about the future maintenance costs of the house, you can design your home in such a way that maintenance will not be expensive. Perhaps you may choose to build a smaller home or use high-quality materials to avoid high maintenance later. Building your home with the future in mind can help you enjoy comfortable and affordable living for many long years.
Note:
You can register for ‘Right to Build’ as an individual or as a group. If you do it as a group, you will get a large plot of land where many homes can be built for everyone in the group. This will allow you to stay close to others in your group.
How to register for Right to Build?
You can register online on a local authority website or the Right to Build portal of NaCSBA. To be eligible to register:
- You must be 18 years of age or older.
- You must be a British Citizen or a national of Switzerland or an EEA state.
- The house you plan to build must be your sole or main home. It cannot be a holiday home or a home you build to rent or sell.
Depending on the local authority, there may be additional requirements for eligibility and they may also charge a fee for registration.
Please note that you can register with more than one local authority.
If you are planning to build your first home and need any sort of legal guidance, please do not hesitate to contact experts Aristone Solicitors.
