"Self-build" is the practice of creating an individual home for yourself through a variety of different methods. The term 'self build' is specifically used in the UK and Ireland when an individual obtains a building plot and then builds their own home on that plot. The self builder's input into this process varies from doing undertaking the actual building work to contracting out all the work to an architect or building package company.
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People build individual homes for all sorts of reasons, but mainly because they want to create something tailored to their family's unique requirements; or something architecturally appealing in all manner of styles; or because they want to live in a home that they might not be able to afford on the open market.
Self-builders create their homes through a variety of methods - and very few actually build it entirely themselves. The majority employ an architect to come up with the design of the new home and contract a builder to construct it; others use so-called 'package' companies to provide a one-stop solution. Many others find themselves managing building sites and dealing directly with planners, tradespeople and materials suppliers.
The number of new homes built by this method each year in the United Kingdom is not known because of the difficulties in defining self build and the lack of official statistics. However it is estimated that there are between 10,000 and 20,000 self builds in the UK every year. This is less than 10% of all the homes built annually but may constitute as much as 1 in 3 new detached homes built in the UK.[1] Over the years, self-builders have been at the forefront of advances in house design and technology, being responsible for the dramatic uptake in recent years in eco-features such as solar power and heat pumps; underfloor heating; open plan design and smart home technology. These are features that take many years to filter through to commercial housing developments. There is also an increasing drive for people to self-build overseas, either as investments, holiday homes, retirement homes or relocation.
Individual houses can take all forms from the traditional to the radically modern, and the term is also used to refer to people who create individual homes out of old buildings.
The main impediment to the UK self build market is the shortage of building plots available to the self builder, high land prices and the restrictive planning regime. in 2008 the National Self Build Association (NaSBA) was established to order to put pressure on relevant bodies, including the Government, to remedy this situation. The founding members of NaSBA are Bath and District Self Build Association, Build It magazine, The National Self Build & Renovation Centre, Potton/Kingspan, Architecture Verte and Ecomotive.[2]