Living a precarious financial existence? One misstep away from homelessness? Join an growing club, as in many countries affordable housing just can’t be found.
So here’s a question: can you literally build yourself into housing security, contributing what is often called ‘sweat equity’ — your labour in place of the money you don’t have to invest in housing?
The answer is ‘yes,’ although the route is not necessarily straightforward. In the United Kingdom, the government was sufficiently bullish on ‘self-build’ housing that in 2016, national legislation was passed that imposed a duty on local councils to find plots of land for applicants who wished to build their own housing. Read more at Self Build Portal: Right To Build: Legislation And Registers
Still, as any developer will tell you (and probably talk your ear off on the subject) jumping through all the regulatory and compliance hoops can take considerable foreknowledge, time and energy.
Here’s a very recent and modest council-supported glimmer of hope in Brighton, Sussex, that gives just a hint of a complex process. Read more in The Argus: Ten Self-Build Homes Planned For Brighton Cul De Sac
For a compelling and uplifting self-build saga about what a collective of determined people can achieve, here is an ongoing story of courage and heartbreak, in The Guardian: ‘We Had To Fight The NF’: But Can London’s First Black Housing Co-Op Survive Latest Threat?
