If the success of our first Build It Live show of the year is anything to go by, then people aren’t letting Brexit get in the way of their dreams for a bespoke home. It was fantastic to see so many of you with plans in hand, ready to move ahead with a project – and our expert team was delighted to be able to pass their experience on to visitors and, hopefully, help make a success of their schemes. If you couldn’t make it along to the South East or North West shows, there will be another chance later this year at Build It Live Bicester on 10th 11th June.
In the meantime, there’s plenty to inspire and learn from in this month’s edition. We’ve got a great mix of real-life projects, including a stunning oak frame lodge (page 20), an ultra-modern extension to a Georgian home (page 36) and a clever Arts Crafts-inspired scheme that adds a whole new storey to a bungalow (page 50). There’s also in-depth advice on building a healthy home (page 58), choosing roof tiles (page 65), insulating older houses (page 68), selecting low-maintenance materials (page 100) and how to get reliable quotes from builders (page 115). the big news this month is the arrival of the Sajid Javid’s long-awaited Housing White Paper, which is set to inform the government’s next raft of policy-making. The headline story is that ministers are continuing to put self and custom build at the heart of their plans – and in fact it’s highlighted as one of 30 core points in the White Paper. Key policies include maintaining the Community Infrastructure Levy exemption for self builders (and those planning extensions) and working with lenders to encourage greater mortgage choice. There’s also a strong commitment to support the new Right to Build, which requires local authorities (LAs) to maintain a register for those seeking to create custom homes in their areas and deliver enough viable land to meet demand – with the potential for further legislation if LAs don’t take sufficient action. Find your Right to build register at www.righttobuildportal.org.