Oxfordshire council consults on plans for large-scale self-build LDO

The Council has proposed to separate the development of up to 1,900 new self-build homes at Graven Hill, near Bicester, into different phases, with a separate LDO for each phase of development. It has said it will consult later this year on plans for an initial LDO that would set guidelines and specifications for the construction of the first 100 to 200 homes.

Under the plans, a set of design rules would be issued for each plot subject to the LDO and self-builders would have three years to complete their development following receipt of a confirmation from the Council that their proposal complied with the building specifications set out by the LDO.

The Council said the initial LDO would be valid for five years and that self-builders would be free to apply through the normal planning application process should they wish to build a property that did not meet the specifications required by the LDO.

The UK government has taken a number of measures to promote the use of LDOs to encourage rapid housing development and to encourage self-building of homes. It opened a loan fund last June to help finance infrastructure works up to the boundaries of serviced plots for self-building and consulted in January on plans to remove planning powers from councils failing to put LDOs in place on brownfield land suitable for housing development.

Councils are required under the Self-Build and Custom Housebuilding Act, introduced in May, to maintain a register of people who have expressed an interest in acquiring serviced plots to build their own homes. A report this month from the National Custom and Self-Build Association said only 20% of councils had assessed local demand for self-built homes or set up a local custom and self-build register.

According to the report, councils in the north east of England were most proactive in supporting private house building, with 70% of councils progressing self-build initiatives. Around half of West Midlands councils had taken action in relation to self-building, but only around a quarter of councils in the North West and a fifth of those in London had done so at the time of the report.

Planning expert Beth Grant of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com said: "The statistics published by the NaCSBA this month show that there continues to be mixed support for the government’s ambition to double the level of private homebuilding in the UK over the next 10 years. Self-build schemes are seen by many as a potential solution to the shortage of housing in the UK, whilst helping to create jobs and boost local economies through the use of small building firms and local tradespeople. It will be interesting to see how the scheme at Cherwell progresses and whether this will spark an increase in support for similar self-build schemes amongst other local authorities."