Welcome to the latest self build news, ideas and opinions from Houseplansdirect.
Looking for the latest self build news, or just interested in what we’ve been up to in the last week? Check out our round up below.
Browse by topic: Planning Permission & Strategy | Self-Build Costs | Design & Layout | Process & Planning | Expert Insights
March 17, 2015
The styles and finishes shown on our website are just examples – if you’ve found a house type that you like, here’s how you go about designing your own home. You may have noticed that our house plans now show the same home finished in several different ways, to give(...)
Read MoreFebruary 25, 2015
Mayor pledges £5 million to fund a series of London self build projects on brownfield sites around the capital. Making use of sites currently being taken up by disused launderettes, factories and garages, the Mayor of London announced plans to help aspiring self builders, targeting young professionals in the city for whom(...)
Read MoreJanuary 19, 2015
If you are contemplating fitting wood flooring in your self-build project, you will soon come across many options and considerations. In this guide to planning wood flooring for your self-build, we look at some of the common scenarios you are likely to face. These are legal noise reduction obligations, type(...)
Read MoreJanuary 13, 2015
Plot-finding website reveals most searched-for UK self build counties – where are Britain’s dream-building hotspots? Every January, Plotsearch sees a huge surge in people using its services to try to locate the dream plot for their self build project. But which areas of the UK were most desired in 2014?(...)
Read MoreJuly 4, 2014
Right to Build 2014: What It Means To You Anyone with an interest in self build will have heard about the government’s ‘Right to Build 2014‘ scheme, designed to encourage those who are considering building their own home to take the plunge. But what does it mean, and how can(...)
Read MoreMarch 28, 2014
Oxfordshire will play host to the UK’s first self build community, after the purchase of 187 hectares of surplus land at MoD Bicester moved plans for a 1,900 home scheme closer. Cherwell District Council will also provide one million square metres of commercial space on the site at Graven Hill(...)
Read MoreNovember 8, 2013
Experts: Councils should be forced to hand over self build land. The UK’s leading think tank has urged the government to use new powers to force councils who do not build enough housing to hand over unused land to self-builders. They believe that the country needs to build 1.5 million(...)
Read MoreSeptember 20, 2013
The UK Government has launched a series of self build grants and initiatives to help those wanting to build their own home, including those on low incomes. Communities Minister Don Foster has announced new measures designed to open up the self-build market to a broader range of UK taxpayers, with specific(...)
Read MoreAugust 5, 2013
For your convenience, we are pleased to offer the current Building Regulations as free downloads below. The Building Regulations are separated into ‘Approved Documents’ and are available as a full set or as individual sections. To obtain your Building Regulations free download, simply click on ‘Add to Basket’ below(...)
Read MoreAt Houseplansdirect, we are constantly involved in the latest developments in the self-build industry. We speak to local authorities, developers and suppliers on a daily basis. This gives us great insight into the challenges facing those wanting to build their own home.
This page collects all of our thoughts on what’s new in self-building. We look at the latest news to see how it might affect planning laws or funding. We’ll share opinions from industry leaders, and articles which may be of interest to anyone looking to build their own home. At the same time, we also keep you updated as to what’s been going on at our offices and any interesting or unusual projects we’ve been working on. There are also new designs constantly in the pipeline, so we introduce them here when they’re ready.
Not everyone is in a position to build their own home right now, of course. With this in mind, we also look at improving your current home, and how to go about it. Our team are happy to share tips and articles which may be of interest to our customers. We appreciate that the world of self build can be daunting but we hope we can make it easier to navigate!
Please let us know what you think of our news and blog posts. We are always interested in feedback from visitors. If there’s a subject you’d like us to look at, email admin@houseplansdirect.co.uk or send us a message via our Contact Us page. Thanks for reading this far down the page and we hope to hear from you soon!
