Summary

Councils have a statutory duty to help custom and self-builders access plots, as set out in the Self-build and Custom Housebuilding Regulations 2016 the Self-build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015 (as amended). These duties include:

• keep and publicise a Register of people who want to self- or custom build in their area;
• have regard to Register when exercising planning, housing, land disposal, regeneration functions; and
• meet demand by granting permission for enough serviced plots to meet demand on a rolling annual basis (three years to deliver).

Introduction

Over the past few decades, there has been growing recognition of the large number of people wishing to commission or build a home of their own – not simply for profit, but to create a home tailored to the needs of the residents. As accessing a plot is the greatest obstacle for most self- and custom builders, planning authorities have a direct role in helping deliver the benefits of growing the custom and self-build (CSB) sector and delivering diversity in housing supply.

Obligations for supporting custom and self-build (CSB) in planning were first introduced the 2012 National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which required that councils “plan for a mix of housing including… people wishing to build their own homes.” This has been enhanced in later versions of the NPPF in relation to delivering a sufficient supply of homes (paragraph 63) and to include references to statutory requirements.

Legislative duties for CSB housing were introduced in the Self-build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015 which requires local authorities to keep and publicise a Register of people wanting to build or commission a home in their area. Councils are required to have regard to the Register when exercising their planning, housing, land disposal and regeneration functions. Registers were mandatory from 1 April 2016.

This was followed by the Housing and Planning Act 2016 which added a further duty on local authorities to grant planning permission for enough serviced plots to meet demand on an annual basis. The Act specified that the level of demand is established by reference to the number of entries added to an authority’s Register during a ‘base period’. 

Base periods run from 31 October to 30 October each year and local planning authorities (LPAs) have three years in which to give development permission for enough plots to meet the number of entries added to the Register during the year. With the base period to 30 October 2016 being the first base period, councils were required to permit enough plots for the first base period by 31 October 2019. The NPPG provides further guidance on carrying out these obligations. This has been clarified by the changes to the 2015 act enforced by the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act (LURA) which have defined the base period when the numbers from a previous base period were not met in that period.  

A number of planning appeals have considered the issue of meeting these duties. The fact that CSB duties are a material consideration and part of the planning balance in decision making is clearly established. To help meet their obligations, planning authorities can set out policies in Local Plans, supplementary planning documents or applicant advice notes and local communities can include CSB in their neighbourhood plans.

These duties apply to all local planning authorities in England, including National Parks. Separate guidance applies to delivering CSB in the devolved nations.

Council obligations for CSB

The obligations on councils are set in policy and legislation and relate to both making Local Plans and in taking decisions on planning applications. These legal and policy obligations and appropriate actions can be summarised as follows: