Teignbridge wins national self build housing award

Teignbridge has been crowned the winner for its pioneering work in self build at the annual Build It awards.

Teignbridge scooped the ‘Best Council for Self/Custom Builders’ accolade, pipping two other authorities to the post for the national title awarded by Build It awards in association with BuildStore.

The Build It Awards 2016, in association with BuildStore, celebrated all aspects of self build and renovation, including completed projects, services and suppliers. The awards brought together architects, manufacturers and key industry figures in recognition of innovation and excellence in the custom home sector.

The winners were unveiled at a gala dinner at the Hilton London Bankside, in London. The award was collected by Teignbridge's Leader Cllr Jeremy Christophers and Senior Planning Officer, Alex Lessware.

Cllr Jeremy Christophers said: “We are thrilled to have won this award. For Teignbridge to be recognised on a national level is a huge endorsement to the work we have been doing over the last 5 years – making a difference to the lives of people in Teignbridge by helping them to build their own dream homes.

"It has been a busy time for Teignbridge as the first council to adopt a Custom and Self Build Policy, including what’s known as the ‘Teignbridge Rule’, where 5% of development on larger sites must be for self build. In addition, Teignbridge was recently invited to talk to councils in Scotland about its ground-breaking self build work.

"Winning this award is the icing on the cake.”

Teignbridge was nominated for the awards by Richard Thomas, Director of Plotbuild. He said: “We are delighted Teignbridge has won this award, recognising that it is showing other local authorities how to do it in a number of ways. They have a dedicated officer in charge of Custom Build in their district. They are also implementing planning policy which specifically requires a proportion of custom and self build plots on larger mainstream housing sites.

“Teignbridge is starting to see the results of this now with many plots being approved solely for self and custom build which is great for the industry. We look forward to delivering schemes in this area and hope that other councils will follow Teignbridge’s innovative and proactive lead.”

The award was sponsored by Custom Build Strategy.

The list of winners of Build It awards can be found at http://builditawards.co.uk/build-it-awards-2016-winners/ along with more information about the awards, the judges and each of the finalists.