Construction Jobs Northern Ireland

Housing Minister Backs Self-Build Land Grants

Jason Orme, editor at Homebuilding & Renovating, explained that the announcement made by Grant Shapps that it will become easier for people to become self-builders is positive.

However, he noted that changes to legislation are not the only thing which is needed for more people to bring their projects to life.

Having the money to complete the job and a piece of land large enough are the issues which need to be addressed before the sector can take off, Mr Orme noted.

"The two key things are finance and land - you can't have one without the other, but obviously finance is the key one, " he explained.

Housing minister Shapps explained recently that the government will do more to help aspiring builders, as they will help to boost the numbers of homes being constructed in the UK each year.

Housing minister Grant Shapps hopes that self-build will become a mainstream construction activity in the coming years.

In a speech at Grand Designs Live 2011, the minister claimed that self-build should no longer be the preserve of the "privileged few".

He noted that the popularity of self-build projects was being driven by prime-time DIY shows and said that as a result the government would put its money where its mouth was by making publicly-owned land available to budding self-builders.

"Self-builders deliver affordable, greener and more innovatively-designed homes and make a big contribution to the number of new homes built in this country, " Mr Shapps said.

He added that the government has an excellent opportunity to increase the number of self-built homes under construction and make self-build a reality for many more people by cutting red tape and bureaucracy.

Recently, Andrew Leech, director at the National Home Improvement Council, claimed that energy efficiency is a key concern for people carrying out DIY.

Until these grants become available however, it looks like self builders are still turning to the bank for loans and financing as seen in this report below:

Householders planning to do some DIY over the Bank Holiday weekend could be planning to take out a loan to fund their repair projects.

According to a study carried out by moneysupermarket.com, one in five homeowners has borrowed money in order to pay for a project on their house.

It found that the average sum borrowed for these jobs is 14, 037, with the average job across the country costing 7, 732 to complete.

People living in Northern Ireland were the most likely to have borrowed cash to pay for their desired project, although residents in the West Midlands take out the most in loans, with an average of 29, 586.

Tim Moss, head of loans and debt at moneysupermarket.com, said: "With the warmer weather arriving and TV full of DIY adverts, many people may be thinking about taking advantage of the extra holidays and lighter nights to make changes around their homes."

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents recently advised people to be realistic about what DIY jobs they can successfully complete.