Another £2 million to support self-builders
The Scottish Government has added another £2 million to the Self-Build Loan Fund which supports self-builders unable to obtain mainstream selfbuild mortgage finance.
The fund now totals £6 million. The news comes as £4 million has already been allocated in loans, for 28 self-builds across Scotland.
The Self-Build Loan Fund is administered on behalf of the Scottish Government by the Communities Housing Trust, an Inverness-based charity working closely with communities to provide affordable homes and community amenities.
Applications to the fund have been extended for another year due to ongoing demand and are open until August 31 2022, with loans to be repaid by August 2023.
The Self-Build Loan Fund was established in 2018 to support those unable to obtain mainstream selfbuild mortgage finance. As banks became more cautious, it became more challenging for people to find funds to build their own home.
Housing Secretary Shona Robison said: ‘Self-provided housing can play an important role in supporting potentially fragile communities and smaller building firms, particularly in rural areas. That’s why we have allocated an additional £2 million to the Self-Build Loan Fund to support self-builders who are unable to access mainstream lending to complete their homes. We want to see more opportunities for self-provided housing, with increased capacity amongst households and industry to deliver these kinds of homes so that it becomes a mainstream option for increasing housing choice, affordability and supply.’
Ronnie MacRae, chief executive officer of Communities Housing Trust, said: ‘This is really important news for small, rural or remote communities across Scotland. We saw public interest in the fund rise by 153 per cent over 2020 as self-build is sometimes the only option to stay in your own community, whether young or old, where housing is limited and developers won’t build. Self-build is an important model as a housing option because it gives communities an opportunity to provide affordable choice, attract people and become more sustainable.
‘We’d like to thank the Scottish Government and are extremely pleased to see this crucial fund extended and increased.’
Homes are now complete or under construction in 11 local authority areas: Aberdeen-shire, Argyll and Bute, Ayrshire, Falkirk, Highland, Lanarkshire, Orkney, Perth and Kinross, Shetland, Stirling and the Western Isles.
Gary and Susan, Self-Build Loan Fund recipients on Mull, said: ‘The Self-Build Loan Fund provided vital bridging finance. Having the loan also meant we could pursue the build quickly, within the limited construction window available due to the weather. Importantly for us, it meant we could talk confidently to local builders and contractors, with us and them secure in the knowledge we could pay them and that they would be paid on time.
‘As with other islands and marginal communities, building on Mull carries a cost overhead for the supply and delivery of building materials. The Self-Build Loan Fund provides vital access to finance and knowledge, making the personal dream of home ownership available to local families, adding to the longer-term resident housing stock and underpinning sustainable island communities.’