Beware the planning permission quandary

Planning permission is the biggest obstacle which keen self-builders face in what is generally a "relatively cheap option" in terms of housing, according to one property expert.

If the cost of buying land can be avoided, perhaps by you already owning or inheriting land, then building your own home can be an immensely financially viable idea.

However those with little experience of building may find the planning permission bureaucracy a little confusing, according to the Home Builders Federation (HBF).

John Slaughter, the director of external affairs for the HBF, said: "If it is adding another building in an area where people might have concerns with that happening, or it is not, for some reason, strictly in line with local authority planning then you are going to have issues about that."

He said that cheap ways of building your own property include rebuilding the one you live in now or building another home on the same plot of land that you live on now.


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