These are the best (and worst) locations for building your own home

A new research study by PlumbNation has revealed the best (and worst) locations throughout England for building your own home.

The study looks at factors such as the cost of land, the proportion of planning applications that are successful and how much property values have increased over the last 10 years to reveal the 2021 Homebuilders Report.

You can find all the information here.

The best local authorities for building your own home:
Rank Local Authority Region Cost of Land per 250 m2 plot Planning Applications Granted Property Value: 10 Year Increase Selfbuild Score /10
1 Dartford South East £102,500 94.74% 71.12% 8.46
2 North Hertfordshire East £152,500 95.45% 69.27% 8.42
3 Tunbridge Wells South East £117,500 96.37% 64.00% 8.36
4 Stevenage East £105,000 93.81% 70.15% 8.36
5 Salford North West £37,500 96.10% 60.00% 8.29
6 Central Bedfordshire East £92,500 94.88% 64.08% 8.27
7 Dacorum East £175,000 94.38% 66.77% 8.25
8 Trafford North West £56,000 95.11% 61.36% 8.24
9 Mendip South West £41,250 98.47% 51.78% 8.23
10 King’s Lynn and West Norfolk East £28,750 98.20% 51.61% 8.21

 

  1. Dartford – Self-build Score: 8.46

The best place to build your own home is Dartford, which tops the table with a Self-build Score of 8.46. While land in Dartford is by no means the cheapest you’ll find, the area benefits from a high rate of successful planning permission requests, as well as having experienced an incredible increase in property value of 71.12% over the last ten years, which suggests any home you do build could be worth a lot more in the future.

  1. North Hertfordshire – Self-build Score: 8.42

North Hertfordshire also performs relatively well across all three factors, especially planning permission, as an impressive 95.45% of planning applications are granted, while property values increased by 69.27% over the last decade.

  1. Tunbridge Wells – Self-build Score: 8.36

Tunbridge Wells also has an excellent success rate of 96.37% for planning applications. However, it loses out on a higher finish due to its lower, yet still impressive, increase in property values of 64%.

The worst local authorities for building your own home:
Rank Local Authority Region Cost of Land per 250 m2 plot Planning Applications Granted Property Value: 10 Year Increase Selfbuild Score /10
1 Kensington and Chelsea London £4,036,875 87.47% 75.67% 5.11
2 Westminster London £3,392,875 89.26% 62.24% 5.34
3 Blackpool North West £28,000 86.22% 14.24% 6.24
4 Redbridge London £295,000 64.27% 80.00% 6.28
5 Barking and Dagenham London £202,750 60.03% 89.41% 6.31
5 Hillingdon London £291,250 66.06% 76.00% 6.31
5 Bradford Yorkshire and The Humber £17,500 84.58% 20.79% 6.31
8 Islington London £1,325,625 80.54% 67.31% 6.37
9 West Lancashire North West £34,750 86.48% 18.75% 6.38
10 Maldon East £94,750 74.14% 53.35% 6.41

 

  1. Kensington and Chelsea – Self-build Score: 5.11

Kensington and Chelsea is the worst place in the country to build your own home. This is due to the incredibly expensive cost of land, which is at an absolute premium this far into London. As such, it finishes with a Self-build Score of just 5.11.

  1. Westminster – Self-build Score: 5.34

Second place is a similar story with Westminster achieving a score of just 5.34. This shows that building in central London is the preserve of large scale developers who can use economies of scale to bring costs down.

  1. Blackpool – Self-build Score: 6.24

Third on our list, and the worst place to build outside of London, is Blackpool. While this seaside Lancashire town benefits from relatively low land costs and an acceptable rate of successful planning applications, property values in the area have increased by just 14.24% in ten years. This means that any property you do build in the area is unlikely to increase in value by any large measure.

Further insights:
  • West Lindsey is the most affordable place in the UK to buy land
  • Kensington and Chelsea are the least affordable places in the UK to buy land
  • Outside of London, Elmbridge is the most expensive place in the UK to buy land
  • Isles of Scilly is the best local authority for granting planning permission but has seen the least growth in property values
  • Barking and Dagenham is the most difficult place in the UK to get planning permission
  • Hackney is the area that has experienced the highest level of house price inflation over the last decade
  • The best place outside of London for rising property values is Thurrock

 

Kindly shared by PlumbNation

Main article photo courtesy of Pixabay