Self Build Home Criteria

A simple Self build home criteria is that it should provide housing that is in tune with people's specific housing requirements and can also stimulate the competitive environment for housing developers.

Interestingly, surveys show that self-build house UK tends to be more prevalent in the less urban parts of the UK and in areas where the market for speculative house building is relatively small. Northern Ireland stands out as an area where self-build is especially important, representing around a quarter of new homes built each year.

Self-build is widely seen as a way of obtaining a larger or 'better' house than would be the case in the mainstream property market. Self-builders are not necessarily driven by traditional reasons for moving. Many have a degree of discretion about their housing choices.
There has been a shift from people self-building because they cannot afford mainstream housing, or are not eligible for social housing, to those who are not satisfied with the existing supply of houses and want an individual property or a particular location.

Self-build may also be undertaken collectively, usually with groups of people pooling their expertise and resources; this study did not deal with this kind of self-build. The procurement route partly varies according to the level of assistance the self-builder requires.

The number of self-build homes has risen substantially over the past 20 years. Since there has been no overall growth in total private sector house building, self-build has captured market share from the speculative house builders.