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Sharma opens UK’s first ‘plot shop’
Housing minister Alok Sharma has opened the UK’s first ’plot shop’, which will sell small sites to people wishing to build their own home.
The ’plot shop’ outlet, in Bicester, will sell plots of land at the Graven Hill site in Oxfordshire, as well as offering advice to potential builders or designers.
Once complete, Graven Hill will be the largest custom and self-build development in the UK with up to 1,900 homes.
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“We need to get creative with how we build our housing in this country, to deliver more of the right homes in the places people want to live,” said Mr Sharma.
“Through diversifying the housing market in this way, we can give people greater choice over the homes they live in – whether that’s buying on the open market or by commissioning and building their dream home.”
The government committed to doubling the number of custom and self-build homes by 2020 in February’s Housing White Paper.
Those hoping to purchase a site for a custom build home from the Bicester shop will be able to access Help to Buy. A plot shop sells undeveloped plots of land to custom builders, as opposed to selling homes.
The model is popular in Holland and Germany and the government estimates it could deliver more than 40,000 homes a year in the UK.
Since April 2016, councils have been required to keep a register of people seeking to build their own home and commission land to match demand. More than 18,000 are now signed up to their local registers.
