The legal definition is the building of houses by individuals or associations of individuals to be occupied as homes by those individuals. It does not include the building of a house on a plot acquired from a person who builds the house wholly or mainly to plans or specifications decided or offered by that person.

A “serviced plot of land” means a plot of land which has access to or can be provided with a public highway and connections for electricity, water and waste water.

The Register is split into to parts.

Part 1

For entry on part 1 of the register, applicants are required to meet the basic eligibility criteria and have a local connection to the area (applicants are required to provide evidence to show how they meet this). The Council must consider the number of registrations recorded in Part 1 when providing sufficient planning permissions to serviced plots to meet this demand.

Part 2

This part of the register will show general demand for custom and self-build. Applicants who meet the basic eligibility criteria only are entered on Part 2 of the register. There is no obligation for the council to provide sufficient number of planning permissions to serviced plots for entries on Part 2. However, the Council will have regard to this general demand when carrying out planning, housing, land disposal and regeneration functions.

The Local Connection Test was agreed at committee on 20th March 2019 - Agenda for Cabinet (Housing) Committee - DISCONTINUED on Wednesday, 20th March, 2019, 4.00 pm - Winchester City Council

The decision details can be viewed here.

The Self-build register covers the areas of the Winchester District that fall outside of the South Downs National Park (SDNP) - those NOT shown in blue on the map on the right hand side of this page.

To register for Self-build or Custom build in areas within the SDNP, please register with the SDNP at https://www.southdowns.gov.uk/planning/self-build-and-custom-build-register/

An individual is eligible for entry in the register if that individual is:

• Aged 18 or over;
• A British citizen, a national of an European Economic Area State other than the United Kingdom, or a national of Switzerland; and
• Seeking (either alone or with others) to acquire a serviced plot of land in the Winchester City Council’s district to build a house to occupy as that individual’s sole or main residence.

An association is eligible for entry in the register if each member of the association meets all of the eligibility requirements for an individual set out above.

To make an application to be entered onto Winchester City Council’s Self-Build and Custom Build Register, please click here. 

We will remove an entry from the register within 28 days of receiving a written request from the individual or association representing that individual. We will remove an entry from the register if we consider that they are no longer eligible for entry on the register and will notify them in writing.

Plots of land for sale regularly appear on popular property portals, such as Rightmove and Zoopla. Other websites include http://www.plotfinder.net/home and http://www.selfbuildportal.org.uk/needaplot.

The City Council started marketing sites with potential for self-build development, (subject to planning) in 2017. Sites will be marketed on the Commercial Property section of the website. Each individual and association accepted onto the register will be notified when a site becomes available for purchase.

The Council would be interested in speaking to anyone with land to sell. We would be happy to inform individuals and associations on the register of land available for purchase in Winchester District.

There are a number of national organisations which offer services and act as advocates for self-build and custom housebuilding, including:

• The National Custom and Self Build Association
• Buildstore
• SelfBuild Central
• The Self Build Portal

A local organisation called Collaborative Homes, also offer services to support self-build and custom housebuilding.