Self-build is the creation of an individual home for oneself through a variety of methods. The self-builder's input into this process varies from doing the actual construction to contracting the work to an architect or building package company.
Self-build is the creation of an individual home for oneself through a variety of methods. The self-builder's input into this process varies from doing the actual construction to contracting the work to an architect or building package company.
People build individual homes for many reasons. One common reason, especially in poorer countries, is that they may not be able to afford such housing on the open market. Another motivation can be the wish to create something tailored to their family's requirements and/or lifestyle. [1]
Self-builders create their homes through a variety of methods, and seldom build it entirely themselves. In rich countries, many of them hire an architect to design the home, [2] and a builder to construct it. Others use so-called 'package' companies to handle the entire project. Many others find themselves managing building sites and dealing directly with planners, tradespeople and materials suppliers.
Self-build in its wider meaning is an ordinary practice in many developing countries. It is also common among certain religious communities like the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) [3] or subcultures such as 'hippies'. Usually ecovillages are realised through self-building techniques. In most developed countries self-build is regulated by the public administration, while in developing countries self-build is sometimes supported by NGOs or international organisations like, for instance, United Nations Volunteers. [4]
In 2010 the World Bank estimated that self-build housing (also described as self-help or self-provided housing) was supplying more than 95% of Ghana's total housing stock, and that it was contributing around 300 billion USDs per annum to the national economy. Self-build is not just practised by poorer households but also by middle-income citizens. Most of Ghana's post-colonial governments, such as Nkrumah's, have been implementing state-run housing schemes because their socialist-oriented agendas sought to discourage self-help housing in order to constrain private ownership by individuals or families. In 2009, the Government of Ghana, in its Draft National Shelter Policy, recognized the importance of self-help and self-build housing and other non-conventional approaches to housing, even if not as a priority.[ citation needed ]
In Italy self-build has been, for some decades after World War II, a common practice among the lower class, widely used in squatting areas like the Borgate Romane (Rome) or the suburbs in the north of Naples and around Palermo. Nowadays self-build is rather used as a partial support to house building where the construction of the structural parts (foundation, walls, roof ....) is committed to professionals companies. [5] Another application field for self-build in Italy is the support to disadvantaged ethnic groups like Sinti. In some middle-sized cities like Ravenna and Padova masonry classes and build materials were offered to people living in gypsies equipped areas in order to help them to improve their huts. [6] In the early 1980s self-build also entered the Italian university programmes: in the architecture faculty of Politecnico di Torino Giorgio Ceragioli introduced in his course of Architectural technology the Laboratorio tecnologico di autocostruzione (Latec), a laboratory where students were allowed to practice several self-build techniques. [7]
In Mexico a very rapid urbanization occurred between 1940s and 1970s, attracting much migration from rural areas. During this period government programmes were not able to ensure enough housing and also the private production was unattractive due to the low wages of a large part of the population. It is estimated that even after the creation of two national housing funds, FONHAPO and INFONAVIT , just 1/5 of the effective demand was satisfied. In this difficult situation, many irregular settlements developed, and some researcher and politician started to sustain that supporting and improving self-build processes rather to fight them was a possible solution to the popular housing issue. So during 1970s public policy started to support low-income self-builder offering them services, core units and in some cases land-ownership regularization. These schemes were criticised by orthodox Marxists, persuaded that ensuring proper housing to people was a government duty and that lack of houses was a structural product of capitalism. Anyway, self-built accommodation became the most common form of housing and, in Mexico City area, it increased from 14% in 1952 to 60% in 1990. Later on, the public policy priority shifted from house production to enhancement of real-estate market, local infrastructures and improvement of existing houses. [8]
The term 'self build' is specifically used in the UK and Ireland when an individual obtains a building plot and then builds their own home on that plot. The term doesn't necessarily refer to completing the work yourself - more usually, self-build is defined as the act of 'commissioning' a bespoke home. [9]
It's estimated that there are between 10,000 and 20,000 self builds in the UK every year. This is less than 10% of all the homes built annually but may constitute as much as 1 in 3 new detached homes built in the UK. [10] Over the years, self-builders have been at the forefront of advances in-house design and technology, being responsible for the dramatic uptake in recent years in eco-features such as solar power and heat pumps; underfloor heating; open plan design and smart home technology. These are features that take many years to filter through to commercial housing developments. There is also an increasing drive for people to self-build overseas, either as investments, holiday homes, retirement homes or relocation.
Individual houses can take all forms from the traditional to the radically modern, and the term is also used to refer to people who create individual homes out of old buildings.
The main impediment to the UK self-build market is the shortage of building plots available to the self-builder, high land prices and the restrictive planning regime. in 2008 the National Self Build Association (NaSBA) was established to order to put pressure on relevant bodies, including the Government, to remedy this situation. The founding members of NaSBA are Bath and District Self Build Association, Build It magazine, BuildStore, Potton/Kingspan, Architecture Verte and Ecomotive. [11] The Association changed its name to the National Custom & Self Build Association (NaCSBA) in July 2014 – borne out of a desire to officially welcome the custom build community. [12]
Since 2016, local authorities in England [13] are required to maintain a register of people and groups who want to build their own home.
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. Houses use a range of different roofing systems to keep precipitation such as rain from getting into the dwelling space. Houses may have doors or locks to secure the dwelling space and protect its inhabitants and contents from burglars or other trespassers. Most conventional modern houses in Western cultures will contain one or more bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen or cooking area, and a living room. A house may have a separate dining room, or the eating area may be integrated into another room. Some large houses in North America have a recreation room. In traditional agriculture-oriented societies, domestic animals such as chickens or larger livestock may share part of the house with humans.
The National House Building Council, usually known as the NHBC, states its primary purpose as raising the construction standards of new homes in the United Kingdom (UK), and providing consumer protection for homebuyers through its 10-year Buildmark warranty.
A modular building is a prefabricated building that consists of repeated sections called modules. Modularity involves constructing sections away from the building site, then delivering them to the intended site. Installation of the prefabricated sections is completed on site. Prefabricated sections are sometimes placed using a crane. The modules can be placed side-by-side, end-to-end, or stacked, allowing for a variety of configurations and styles. After placement, the modules are joined together using inter-module connections, also known as inter-connections. The inter-connections tie the individual modules together to form the overall building structure.
Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.
Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on affordable housing refers to mortgages and a number of forms that exist along a continuum – from emergency homeless shelters, to transitional housing, to non-market rental, to formal and informal rental, indigenous housing, and ending with affordable home ownership.
KB Home is a homebuilding company based in the United States, founded in 1957 as Kaufman & Broad in Detroit, Michigan. It was the first company to be traded on the NYSE as a home builder. Its headquarters are in Los Angeles, California.
A prefabricated building, informally a prefab, is a building that is manufactured and constructed using prefabrication. It consists of factory-made components or units that are transported and assembled on-site to form the complete building. Various materials were combined to create a part of the installation process.
Visitability is the design approach for new housing such that anyone who uses a wheelchair or other mobility device should be able to visit. A social visit requires the ability to get into the house, to pass through interior doorways, and enter a bathroom to use the toilet. Visitability stresses specific accessibility features from a social reform perspective, and counters social isolation.
The colony houses of Edinburgh were built between 1850 and 1910 as homes for artisans and skilled working-class families by philanthropic model dwellings companies. The first development was the Pilrig Model Buildings, near Leith Walk. Later developments across the city were built by the Edinburgh Cooperative Building Company Limited, founded in 1861. The founders of this company were influenced by the Reverend Dr. James Begg and the Reverend Dr. Thomas Chalmers, ministers of the Free Church of Scotland, who campaigned to improve the housing conditions of the poor.
Walter Segal was an architect who developed a system of self-build housing, the Segal self-build method. Based on traditional timber frame methods modified to use standard modern materials, his method eliminates the need for wet trades such as bricklaying and plastering, resulting in a light-weight method which can be built with minimal experience and is ecologically sound. The roofs tend to be flat with many layers of roofing felt, which allows the creation of grass-covered roofs. Foundations are minimal, often just paving slabs, the strength coming from the geometry of their construction. Segal houses have been compared to traditional Japanese houses.
AR Homes, formerly Arthur Rutenberg Homes, is one of America's largest network of independently owned and operated custom homebuilding companies. Currently, there are over 40 AR Homes franchises in 10 states. The network operates fully-furnished model homes which are available to tour daily.
The California Building Industry Association (CBIA) is a state trade association in the United States. Headquartered in Sacramento, CA, the CBIA's mission is advocation on behalf of the housing and construction industry.
The Fuller Center for Housing (FCH) is an ecumenical Christian, 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Americus, Georgia, that builds and repairs homes for low-income families and individuals. It is active in 60 U.S. cities and 16 countries outside the U.S.
The tiny-house movement is an architectural and social movement that advocates for downsizing living spaces, simplifying those living spaces, and essentially "living with less." According to the 2018 International Residential Code, Appendix Q Tiny Houses, a tiny house is a "dwelling unit with a maximum of 37 square metres of floor area, excluding lofts." The term "tiny house" is sometimes used interchangeably with "micro-house". While tiny housing primarily represents cheap, simple living, the movement also sells itself as a potential eco-friendly solution to the existing housing industry, as well as a feasible transitional option for individuals experiencing a lack of shelter. Some states in the U.S. consider any home under 1,000 square feet to be a tiny home.
Edenridge is an unincorporated community in New Castle County, Delaware, United States in the Brandywine Hundred, north of Wilmington.
A custom home is a one-of-a-kind house that is designed for a specific client and for a particular location. The custom home builder may use plans created by an architect or by a professional home designer. Custom homes provide consumers with the opportunity to control layout, lot size, and accessibility.
Christeele Acres Historic District is a residential subdivision in Orem, Utah, built in 1943 as housing for workers at the Geneva Steel plant during World War II. The historic district includes 62 single-family houses and three duplexes. The houses were built to Federal Housing Administration (FHA) "minimum house" standards, which were considered to be the minimum size of a house necessary for a family with three persons or a family with two small children. The houses had two bedrooms and approximately 700 square feet (65 m2) of living space.
Frankel Building Group is a custom home builder that operates in the Houston, Texas region. The company is known for constructing homes that meet the standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. Frankel homes are generally priced between $800,000 and $2 million.
Marnie Oursler is an American home builder and television personality. She is the owner and operator of the homebuilding business Marnie Custom Homes, which is featured on the DIY Network show, Big Beach Builds.
The city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England includes a diverse variety of historical housing architectures, some dating back several hundred years, from small working class terrace houses to larger mansions, mostly from the Victorian era. While many remain in the present day, large numbers were demolished and redeveloped during the slum clearances of the 1960s and 1970s and of those that survived, many have since been refurbished.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
Definitions from Wiktionary
Media from CommonsSelf Build Resources
Other Countries