The government is to introduce new measures that will make it easier for people to build their own home.

Under the Right to Build scheme, people who want to build their own home will be able to get help from their local council to find a suitable plot of land.

The scheme will be trialled in 11 areas across England. Local councils will develop a register of prospective custom builders and match them to suitable sites.

Planning Minister Brandon Lewis said: “Custom build should not be the preserve of a select few but a realistic opportunity for anyone who wants to build their own home and that’s why we’re supporting this Bill.”

The government has already taken a number of steps to help self-builders. Previous measures include:

• a £150m investment fund to support delivery of up to 10,000 serviced plots
• making custom builders exempt from paying the community infrastructure levy and scaling back section 106 tariffs
• introducing a £30m Custom Build Homes Fund in October 2012, which made repayable finance available for larger multi-unit projects and granted funding for community custom builders
• planning guidance that asks local authorities to assess the demand for custom build and make plans to meet this.

A government consultation is seeking views from local authorities, the custom build sector and prospective custom builders. Ministers want to discover the level of demand for custom build, how they can meet that demand and how the Right to Build will work within the existing planning framework.

The consultation ends on 18 December 2014.

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