In a surprise weekend announcement, the Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has revealed new plans for £150 million of funding to make it easier and more affordable for people to build their own homes. 

The new “Help to Build” low deposit mortgage scheme will help self and custom home building become a realistic option to get onto the housing ladder. The new scheme is based on the existing “Help to Buy” scheme and will enable people to custom build a new home with just a 5% deposit backed by a government equity loan. 

These changes are expected to see a huge growth in self and custom home builds. This could see some 30-40,000 new homes a year being built in this sector.

The government also announced £2.1 million in funding to help communities have a greater say in how their local area is developed. The fund will boost neighbourhood planning by giving additional support to local authorities in under-represented areas.