After a comprehensive spending review earlier this week, the Chancellor confirmed that a new Help to Build scheme would be made available for the sector.

The review included two significant announcements for the sector:

• £2.2 billion of new loan finance to support house builders, which includes delivering a new Help to Build scheme for custom and self builders, as well as funding for SME housebuilders and Modern Methods of Construction.
• £100 million of funding to support, among other things, the release of public sector land, including for serviced plots for self and custom builders.

BuildStore, which is an Appointed Representative of Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB), is the leading finance partner for custom and self-build clients. MAB is the UK’s most recognised mortgage broker*, with over 1,400 mortgage advisers offering advice on a local level. 

Here, Raymond Connor, CEO at BuildStore, offers his reaction to the news.

He said: “Both MAB and BuildStore jointly welcome the government’s introduction of the new Help to Build scheme. We started working with MAB seven years ago specifically to offer products and solutions for people with aspirations to build their own homes.

“This announcement has been a while in the making. At times, it’s felt as though self and custom build has been on the sidelines, but this news shows the strength of this government’s commitment to diversification in the housing sector.

“Unfortunately, we turn away a large number of potential customers every month who are interested in self or custom build, but they simply don’t have the cash deposit required. Although we await further details and a formal timeline for the scheme, we hope it will make building your own home much more achievable.  

“In terms of the wider market, the scheme will provide a major boost to the emerging custom build sector in the UK. SME developer are the lifeblood of this industry who day-to-day are the ones with the ability to divide up land into plots and sell on to the end consumer. We know that planning legislation is being strengthened all the time in this area to ensure local authorities offer serviced plots for people with a desire to custom build.”