The government is putting £30 million into encouraging people to build their own homes, in an attempt to drive the development of 100,000 homes over the next decade.

The investment, which was announced in this week's 'Laying the Foundations' housing strategy, will provide short-term finance to the self-build sector. The Strategy notes 13,800 self build homes were completed on 2010/11, roughly equating to 1 in 10 houses built. To put this into context, in many European countries more than 50% of homes are self build.

A lack of finance and mortgage products and a finite supply of land are often cited as the main barriers to self build projects.

Andrew Galloway from Savills Nottingham, comments: "It's refreshing to hear that the government is encouraging people to be more entrepreneurial when it comes to home ownership. There is latent demand for single and double plots in the prime suburbs and villages. We hope to see more housing plots of this nature coming to the market over the forthcoming months."

Nick Grace, a Planning Director at Savills Nottingham adds: "Appropriate small scale development is required to underpin housing number targets in all authority areas. Plots often come forward within settlement boundaries and are often in planning policy terms very sustainable. In general terms, new development provides construction work and jobs as well as adding to the vitality and viability of villages and settlements.  In the current market, such sites are the most deliverable and the best opportunities are often found at Auction or through a local agent".