The news follows an announcement by Grant Shapps, housing minister, that the government would pledge to provide £30m in short term finance to the self build sector in an effort to double the size of the market.
The National Self Build Association estimated that one in 10 new homes in the UK were self built and the market generated £3bn annually for the UK economy.
The UK itself currently lags well behind other European countries. Around 80% of new homes build in Austria are self build and in France and Germany the equivalent figure is around 60%.
Shapps said: “Self builders built more homes last year than many of the major developers in this country. But I want to see more of this, see the industry fulfil its potential and double in size to ensure anyone wanting to build their own home has access to the help and information they need.
"And with as many as 100,000 aspiring self-builders looking for suitable plots, this presents an amazing business opportunity, not least for lenders.
“That's why I'm today backing the Building Societies Association's new toolkit and urging lenders to do what they can to back this growing industry.”
Paul Broadhead, head of mortgage policy, added: “Many building societies began life by helping local people fund the building of their homes, so self-build fits well with the mutual lending model. We hope that the lender toolkit will help to promote this more innovative area of lending to more providers.
"The consumer demand is there and the need for additional housing is evident. On top of this the government has committed to maximise access for self-builders to land which is being released as part of its accelerated land-disposals programme and to require local authorities to take positive steps to facilitate this form of building. The barriers to self-build are steadily coming down.”
