Self or custom house building is when you are directly involved in building your new property, either on your own or as part of an association.

Apply to go on the register

By registering it will inform us of the demand for self or custom build in Bolton and help us identify suitable sites for development. We will then let you know if/when a suitable site becomes available based on the information you’ve given us.

To be eligible for the register you must be 18 or over, and:

Meeting demands arising from the register

In addition to setting up the register the council has a duty to grant enough planning permissions, for suitable serviced (*) plots of land, to meet the demand expressed through new entries onto its register during a base period.  It has 3 years from the end of each base period to do this.

The first base period began in April 2016 when the register was established and ended on 30 October 2016.  Each subsequent base period is the period of 12 months beginning immediately after the end of the previous base period. Subsequent base periods will therefore run from 31 October to 30 October each year.

The council considers that most small sites for 1 or 2 new dwellings could be suitable for self or custom build.  Between 1 April 2016 and 30th October 2016 50 sites with a total capacity of 58 dwellings were approved.  This exceeds demand expressed on the register at October 2016 for 22 plots.  At 30 October 2020 there are a total of 158 individuals registered.

Since April 2016 some of these small sites have been completed or are now under-construction.  However other potential opportunities still exist and a list of the 48 sites with planning permission for new build for 1 or 2 dwellings can be downloaded from here.

The list contains the planning application reference, site size, approved housing capacity, whether full or outline permission has been granted and which ward it is located in.  It should be cautioned that the council has no specific information whether the site is available for sale or has commenced recently.  It is for a prospective self-builder to approach owners or their agents direct.  Details of these and of the planning permission can be obtained through searching the council’s planning pages here.