Housing Minister Announces Government to take self-builders out of the Community Infrastructure Levy

During a visit to Almere, a self-build town in The Netherlands. Housing Minister Grant Shapps gave Selfbuilder.tv an exclusive by announcing to them that he will be moving to ensure self-builders are excluded from the building tax the Community Infrastructure Levy. This is an enormously important decision for every selfbuilder since the tax was set to cost up to £30,000 per build. See the interview now at selfbuilder.tv

Nominations Open For The First Murray Armour Award For 2012

For the last few years the National Self Build Association has made an annual award for Britain’s most determined self builder, in memory of self build author Murray Armor.

The award is aimed at anyone (an individual, a couple, or a group), that has championed the cause of self build and has managed to deliver their project “against the odds”.

So if you had challenging issues to overcome we’d like to hear from you. Perhaps you are disabled but still managed to build your own home; or you had NIMBY neighbour problems; or a tiny budget; or maybe you developed a clever new construction or environmental technique that has enormous potential for the future. Whatever the trials or difficulties you overcame - let us know about it.

To enter, all you have to do is explain the obstacles you faced, how you overcame them, and the end result you achieved. You must do this on no more than three pages of A4 paper – and you can use these pages to include photos, plans or other illustrative material if this helps to explain the story, but please don’t write any more than 500 words. You can find details of the previous winners here: www.nasba.org.uk/murray-armor-award.

The 2012 winner will be presented with the trophy at our AGM towards the end of the year.

The deadline for submissions is the end of July. Please send your nominations to NaSBA Secretary Valerie Bearne at this e-mail address: info@badsba.co.uk.