County to pilot self build homes

bbc.co.uk, 29th Jan, 2005

First-time buyers in Carmarthenshire are to be given advice and training to help them build their own homes.

The council is to pilot a self-build scheme amid concerns that house prices are keeping low wage earners off the property ladder.

The scheme is believed to be the first in Wales for almost a decade.

The authority's executive board has given the scheme the go-ahead and a suitable site is being sought.

What people get out of it is not just a home and some building skills, they get a lot of practical and organisational skills

First-time buyers on low incomes will be given help in planning, building, and project managing the scheme.

Group self-build projects were pioneered in the London Borough of Lewisham in the mid 1970s.

Nicholas Taylor of the London based Community Self Build Agency said there were over 100 projects in England.

Co-operatives, usually of between eight and 16 people, are set up and they are given intensive training in all aspects of the house-building process.

They work on each other's homes and only move in when all have been completed.

Mr Taylor said: "These schemes come about in all sorts of different ways and what people get out of it is not just a home and some building skills, they get a lot of practical and organisational skills.

We aim to pilot it in an area of Carmarthenshire once we have identified land and established links with the appropriate organisation

Huw Evans, Carmarthenshire council

"There's a big team building process going on and people have to learn to work together."

He said for many it is way of securing a home for themselves but some do then go on to take jobs in the building and construction industries.

"People get an awful lot out of it and they get a tremendous sense of identity with their homes."

He said the last such scheme he was aware of in Wales was completed in Pontypridd in the mid-1990s.

Carmarthenshire's executive board member for housing, Huw Evans, said the scheme was at an early stage but the authority had committed itself to the pilot.

"We aim to pilot it in an area of Carmarthenshire once we have identified land and established links with the appropriate organisations," he said.

He said the council's housing, building, social care and education officers would be involved.

Those taking part would either be given the land on a leasehold or discounted basis.

"Along with providing them with their own home, the initiative also aims to help them build confidence, self-esteem, skills and a sense of achievement," added Mr Evans.