Do you fancy purchasing a plot and building your own home in St Albans?

A new register for people wishing to buy land to build a house on has been set up by the district council.

It’s designed to help assess the level of local demand for this time of house building.

Data from the register will be published annually in St Albans district council’s ‘monitoring report’.

Entitled The Self-Build and Custom Housebuilding Register, it is required by central government.

The council says it is not aware of any plots available for self-build in the area.

But the draft Strategic Local Plan (SLP) demands “opportunities for self-build housing” to be set aside in three broad locations – East Hemel Hempstead, East St Albans and North West Harpenden.

The SLP is a blueprint for development in the district over two decades. It identifies land for housing, social facilities, commerce and infrastructure.

It will be submitted later this year to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, before being examined by an independent planning inspector.

To apply to go on the register, you must be at least 18 years old and a citizen of the UK, European Economic Area state or Switzerland.

They must be seeking alone or with others a serviced plot of land in the council’s area to build a house as their sole or main residence. Entry on to the self-build register will not guarantee you an available plot.

Tracy Harvey, head of planning and building control at the district council, said: “It appears that there is a significant number of people across the UK looking to build their own home.

“The purpose of this register is simply to monitor the extent of the demand within the district.”

Details about how to apply can be found here.

More information about this type of housing is available from The National Custom and Self Build Association.