Recession 'offers ideal opportunity' to self build

A recession may offer a great opportunity to those looking to self build their homes.

According to the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA), the UK is currently going through "an unprecedented housing shortage" and the country should take advantage of the opening by planning ahead to create more sustainable and affordable properties.

Gideon Amos, chief executive of the TCPA, called on local and central government to release more public land in order to help combat the affordable homes deficit, with Lee Shostak, who chairs the body, suggesting that the potential to transform the UK's housing sector is near limitless.

"The main constraint will be our ambition - not the recession," he remarked.

According to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, there are still lots of construction projects taking place in the UK, meaning that the impact of the sector's decline on the jobs market is perhaps not as bad as has been made out.