More Britons turn to selfbuild for their perfect house
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Britains housing market is shaky: prices are either flat or falling in most
of the country. Its a bad time to sell, and househunters who believe the
slowdown will gather momentum may regard it as a bad time to buy, too. So,
what constitutes a sound property investment?
Building your own home. Providing you do it well %26ndash; and in particular, keep
control of the budget %26ndash; self-building, even in a downturn, can mean profit.
Even better, there are signs that the government intends to encourage
self-building, as part of its effort to achieve its target of 3m new homes
by 2020.
Building your own house is commonplace in many other countries: on the
Continent, it accounts for as many as 6 in 10 new homes, according to a
report by Ama, a market-research company. Here, however, it has been slow to
take off, with just 10% of new housing self-built. Why?
For a start, small individual plots are hard to find. Bidwells, a
Cambridge-based estate agency with offices throughout East Anglia, says it
takes several calls a week from people looking for them. Good single plots
for large family properties are exceptionally rare in the area. We probably
get one a year,%26rdquo; says James Thomas, residential development surveyor with
Bidwells. He believes the high prices they fetch are a reflection of intense
competition. A combination of planning constraints and government policy
has driven more efficient use of land to ensure denser development. The
guidelines dictate a minimum of 12 houses to the acre.%26rdquo;
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