Group Self Build

Group self build refers to any arrangement whereby a group of people come together to self build their own homes.

This can take many forms from:

• A group of friends collaborating to buy a piece of land offering multiple opportunities on which they can build their own homes.

to

• Community self build arrangements with the creation of formal relationships between participants, minimum time commitments for labour input and the possibility of incorporating training for qualifications such as National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ).

Group self build can offer a number of advantages including the pooling of resources, skills and experience. Joining a group can even unlock plot opportunities. By joining a group of friends or individuals in the same area you can include larger plots with multiple opportunities in your plot search, plots that are normally only be suitable for developers.

If you are in need of housing and are interested in setting up a group with people in the same situation then visit The Community Self Build Agency for more information.

If you are simply looking for opportunities to build your own home with like minded self builders in your area or want to try and make use of the buying power of a group to purchase a plot have a look on some of the self build forums for other interested parties or try and rope in some friends.

The Self Build Forum's Community section has a dedicated forum for local groups. See if there is anyone there in the right area or why not post your own rallying call!

To widen your land finding net have a look at Plotsearch's Plotshare opportunities. Plotsearch is a database of building plot opportunities in the UK and has a Plotshare feature identifying plots which have multiple opportunities. It aims to help individual buyers collaborate to buy the plot and will even help to facilitate the apportioning of land and price negotiations for the individual plots.

With a clamp down on 'garden grabbing' currently on the Government agenda, purchasing larger plots in a group may become a more popular route for self builders to secure land.

If you are interested in self building browse The Self Build Guide for advice on all aspects of building your own home.