Last month, we reported on a National Custom and Self Build Association (NaCSBA) freedom of information request that showed only 45% of councils have met their legal duties to provide permissioned plots to self builders under the Right to Build legislation. Frustratingly, that figure includes local authorities who may be charging excessive fees to be on registers or even counting consents for large-scale developer plots as contributions towards meeting their self build targets. The good news is NaCSBA, of which Build It was a founding member, continues to have the government’s ear. Housing secretary Robert Jenrick recently set out proposals to overhaul the planning system, which included a reaffirmation that the government will support people who want to build their own homes to find plots of land, with specific reference to community and self build housing. This comes ahead of a planning whitepaper, due in spring, which will aim to speed up planning decisions and make it easier for communities to have their say. Strong signs that councils are set to face greater pressure to assist individual and group self builders with their home building ambitions!