The company has reported an exceptional volume of enquires and applications for self build finance in January 2009 were significantly up on the same month in 2008.
With the collapse of the private sector housebuilding industry and restricted mortgage lending, BuildStore believes that there has never been a better environment for self build, and predicts that 2009 will see more homeowners turn in to ‘home builders’.
Applications for self build finance were 25% up in January 2009 at £56m compared with January 2008 while enquiries from people contacting Buildstore looking to self build or renovate a property were 37% higher. In addition, these enquiries in January 2009 were 55% higher than the monthly average in 2008.
The company sees evidence that prospective self builders are looking to take advantage of the increase in land availability and falling land prices and BuildStore’s land database PlotSearch (www.plotsearch.co.uk) has also seen an increase in land enquires in January, with double the number of subscriptions than the average of the last four months.
John Hay, Head of Financial Services Marketing and Product Development at BuildStore comments: “There are a number of reasons why people are considering building their own house now. Land is more available and cheaper, it has become easier to find a builder who will give a competitive quote and by self building, people are creating a cushion of up to 30% increase in value helping protect against negative equity. Through our BuildLoan scheme for intermediaries we are seeing a growth in awareness that intermediaries need the expert help we can give them to ensure that their clients have the right cashflow during their project to keep the build progressing.”
