Bristol’s mayor vows to release land for self-build

Bristol mayor George Ferguson has pledged to help kick-start a self-build housing boom in the city by exploiting sites typically considered unsuitable for commercial development. 

The former RIBA president, who was elected mayor in November, has outlined plans to put all public land in the city under single management and said he would look to identify sites suitable for self-builders. “We will look for appropriate sites that might not otherwise get developed by conventional means,” he said.

He also called on building professionals to come forward with ideas on how self-build could improve housing supply in the city, which has suffered a slump in new housing and spiralling waiting lists for affordable homes. 

Bristol is suffering from an acute lack of affordable housing – in 2011 just 848 affordable homes were built, one for every 44 persons on the city’s waiting list, according to figures from the National Housing Federation South West.

“Bristol is a test bed for new ways of doing things. I’m very much looking for people to come and self-build at all scales,” said Ferguson. “We’ve got to really up the numbers in Bristol. What I’m anxious to do is make quite sure we get a real mix of types of tenure and developer.”

Ferguson’s comments were welcomed by architects in the Bristol region, including Peter Clegg, partner at Feilden Clegg Bradley, who told Building Design magazine: “We’ve been talking about self-build in Bristol now for 25 years so it would be great if there was renewed interest in it. If anyone can do it, George can.”

The news came as housing minister Mark Prisk announced measures designed to help people aspiring to build their own homes get projects off the ground.

On a visit to a self-build co-housing project in Leeds, Prisk said he would relax rules for support funding under the Community Right to Build scheme to help more community groups bring forward and develop schemes.

He said the scheme’s rules would be expanded to ensure that anyone, including self-builders, have access to financial support regardless of the route they take to planning permission. The scheme will offer a total £14m of funding over the next two years.

Self-build champion and TV presenter Kevin McCloud said: “I’m delighted that the government has agreed to support other groups keen to get similar projects off the ground. Often, in the early days, these groups need a small grant or professional help to get their schemes ready to start on site. Access to this fund will help more community groups deliver innovative projects like this.”