Self-build and custom housebuilding

We have set up a register for people who are interested in a self-build or custom-build home in Richmond upon Thames, in accordance with the duties of the Self-build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015 and the Self-build and Custom Housebuilding (Register) Regulations 2016.

The statutory duty under the 2015 Act to keep a register and to have regard to it came into force on 1 April 2016. Further guidance is available on the government’s Planning Practice Guidance portal.

Join the register

To be eligible to join the Local Self-Build Register you must be:

• Aged 18 or older
• A British citizen, a national of a EEA State other than the United Kingdom, or a national of Switzerland, and
• Seeking (either alone or with others) to acquire a serviced plot of land in the relevant authority’s area to build a house to occupy as your sole or main residence

Add your details

What we use the register for

This register will form part of our evidence base and help us understand the level of demand for self-build and custom-build houses, which will assist in the preparation and implementation of planning policies.

It will inform our planning, housing, land disposal and regeneration functions.

Please note that entry on the register will not guarantee that a suitable plot will be identified or come available. Subsequent applications for self-build and custom-build projects will require planning permission and will be assessed on their merits in line with our Local Plan policies and guidance.

The duty to permit

The Council was granted an exemption by government from the duty to permit enough serviced plots of land to meet the demand for self-build and custom housebuilding if the demand for self-build and custom housebuilding is greater than 20% of the land identified by the Council as being available for future housing. We re-run the calculation each year to see if the threshold is still exceeded and if so, the exemption remains.

So far, there have been eight base periods:

• Base period 1: April 2016 to 30 October 2016
• Base period 2: 31 October 2016 to 30 October 2017
• Base period 3: 31 October 2017 to 30 October 2018
• Base period 4: 31 October 2018 to 30 October 2019
• Base period 5: 31 October 2019 to 30 October 2020
• Base period 6: 31 October 2020 to 30 October 2021
• Base period 7: 31 October 2021 to 30 October 2022
• Base period 8: 31 October 2022 to 31 October 2023

The Council was exempt from the duty to permit for base periods 1 to 8.

For the current base period (9 - 31 October 2023 to 30 October 2024) the demand for self-build and custom housebuilding is less than the required 20%, so the exemption will not apply.

What this means

Within National Planning Practice Guidance, 'authorities have three years in which to permission sufficient land to match demand'. This means we will have three years in which to permit sufficient self-build sites from the relevant base period.

We are still required to maintain a register of interest in self/custom build dwellings and will continue to monitor the number of permissions granted for self-build dwellings. For the time being we will have regard to the register when undertaking planning, housing, disposal of land and regeneration functions.

The Mayor of London set up the Community Led Housing hub to support Londoners and community groups who want to build their own homes. This is to provide information (online, first point of contact), capacity building for communities and connected sectors, technical support for projects, and partnership brokering with funders, lenders etc.

Other information

• The Authority’s Monitoring Reports on housing sets out annually details regarding future housing land supply, identifying sites with planning permission
• The Mayor of London's Community Housing Hub is to support Londoners and community groups who want to build their own homes including for example on advice and feasibility and links to other resources
• The Self Build Portal is the government-endorsed advisory website for self-builders and custom-builders