Graven Hill opens new Build It Education House to help people with their self-builds

The developers behind the Graven Hill estate have created the Build It Education House to provide a ‘unique’ insight into the process of creating your own home and show how a home can be built for a realistic budget on a modest plot.

The house was created by Build It, a magazine for self-builders, at Graven Hill and officially opened yesterday with a ribbon cutting by South Norfolk MP and Right to Build Task Force ambassador, Richard Bacon.

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Visitors were able to explore the building and informational graphics guided them through its self-build journey and the practical choices they can expect to face on their own projects – regardless of where they are building.

People also had the chance to see cut-outs of key structural details and pick up a complete handbook taking them step-by-step through the process of designing and building the Education House.

The opening coincided with Right to Build Day, an initiative set up to track local authority activity around the Right to Build legislation and to also encourage innovation in the UK’s housing sector.

It marked the date by which all councils in England were ordered to demonstrate that they have met consumer demand on the Right to Build register by allocating self-build and custom build plots.

The National Custom and Self Build Association (NaCSBA) says that one of the barriers to people fulfilling their dreams of self-building is a lack of knowledge.

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Andrew Baddeley-Chappell, CEO of NaCSBA, said: “Right to Build Day is a pivotal date for the sector, as it has had to wait a long time to see how effective the legislation has been.

“Our research, together with the work of the Right to Build Task Force, has helped us identify good, bad and some downright ugly performance from local authorities, and we will hold the government to its commitment to consider taking further action, including possible changes to legislation if they do not believe sufficient action is being taken.”

Graven Hill is the UK’s largest self-build and custom-build estate, and will eventually have up to 1,900 unique homes, which are due to be built over the next ten years.

The development is set to ‘revolutionise’ the way properties are designed and built by offering a flexible alternative to the usual routes.

The plots will be surrounded by open, green spaces and a network of cycle and footpaths connecting to the town centre and local transport links.

Chris Bates, editor of Build It magazine, said: “Build It’s Self Build Education House seeks to inspire the next generation of self builders and demystify the process of creating your own individual home.

“The Education House empowers people to access the self build route by helping them understand their design, build and fit-out choices and equipping them with the knowledge they need to achieve a better quality, better designed and better value-for-money home.”