On Saturday 26th of November 2011, Foxley Tagg’s Managing Director Sally Tagg attended the Annual General Meeting of the National Self Build Association (NaSBA) in Swindon. NaSBA was formed in October 2008 to promote self-build and become the voice of the self-build sector in which Britain lags behind the rest of Europe.
Sally has become increasingly involved in planning issues related to the self-build sector; in addition this is reflected in her long term association with the Homebuilding and Renovating magazine since March 2007. At NaSBA’s AGM she was successfully accepted onto the NaSBA Executive Committee.
Sally has been working with the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) over recent months following a call from Ministers in January 2011 which invited representatives from the self-build “industry” to form a working group. This working group in turn called upon the industry through four working sub groups to identify the four main challenges that they face. The Minister for Housing and Local Government, Grant Shapps as would be expected, is taking a keen interest in the report of the Self Build Government-Industry Working Group or in his words the “charter for the self-build revolution”.
The four main challenges have been identified as follows;
Availability of Land, availability of finance, impact of regulation and the disparate nature of the industry.
Sally has from the start of this year specifically been involved in the Group looking at Regulation and red tape through two streams, planning issues and non-planning issues. Along with the other sub groups, these findings were collated to create the Action Plan document entitled “An Action Plan to promote the growth of self-building housing”.
Following its publication in July this year, a Self-Build Implementation Group was formed from a select number of members of the four sub working parties to develop and carry forward the Action Plan. Sally was very committed to the work of the industry group and was delighted to have been selected to continue with the implementation Group and the programme of objectives identified in the Action Plan, working with sector professionals, local and central government and the industry as a whole.
A review of the Action plan key elements will be posted shortly.