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28
Sept 2022
Harrogate estate agents sees renewed interest in self-build homes
Harrogate's Linley & Simpson is witnessing renewed interest in the number of people looking to follow the European trend and build their own home.
This story is sponsored by Linley & Simpson.
A Harrogate estate agency has seen renewed interest in the number of people looking to follow the European trend and build their own home.
The new homes department at Linley & Simpson believes there is a growing appetite in the community to take advantage of this approach amid the cost of living crisis.
As a result, it has launched a new research project to pinpoint how big the interest is.
On the continent, around one-in-three homes are self or custom build – yet in England, the figure is less than 10%.
In Harrogate district, even fewer are following this trend with government statistics showing that just 95 planning permissions for serviced plots have been granted since ministers launched the Right to Build initiative in 2016.
The legislation was designed to address concerns about affordability, and make it easier for people who wanted to build or commission their own home.
David Waddington, director of new homes at Linley & Simpson, said the cost benefits of self-build, coupled with a greater choice of prime plots coming to the market across Harrogate district, has recently increased the appeal of buying and building a personalised home in this way.
He said:
“According to the National Custom and Self Build Association, England has the lowest proportion of self-build homes in the developed world.
“There are big differences in the popularity of self-build across the UK but we believe there is a growing appetite for the concept across the Harrogate district.
“Our aim is to try to identify the size of this hidden demand.
“Much of the interest is location driven – demand for property in Harrogate is high enough for people to choose this route in order to get their dream home in the right place.
“It’s also being spurred on by cost of living pressures and rising inflation as there are significant stamp duty savings with self-build, as you are only buying the value of the land and not a complete house.
“Plots are usually available in rural, semi-rural and suburban areas so there’s no shortage of choice. And roads, sewers and services will already be connected so it’s a real turnkey solution, ready for immediate use.”
Many neighbouring areas have seen far greater numbers of self-build projects - Hambleton, for example, has had 124 in the same timescale while further afield, Cherwell in Oxfordshire reports almost 6,000.
In 2021, more than 12,000 people joined the Right to Build registers, which helps aspiring custom and self-builders find plots – a year-on-year increase of 31%.
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