The government should offer individuals who wish to build their own home financial incentives to so on brownfield sites in parity with those currently enjoyed by commercial builders, says Ipswich Building Society.

The comment comes from chief executive Richard Norrington, who cites research carried out by the lender that shows 82 per cent of potential self builders saying they would be more likely to carry out their projects on brownfield sites if offered a financial benefit, such as a VAT exemption of interest-free loan.

Of those who are looking at building their own home, 31 per cent were not aware of brownfield land registers, which local authorities are charged with keeping up to date. On being informed of their existence, 61 per cent of budding builders were positive about them, the research shows.

More broadly, the research also reveals that 35 per cent of UK adults are considering a self-build project, with 51 per cent of these attracted most by the ability to design their own home, 28 per cent because they want to make decisions about building materials, and 17 per cent for economic reasons.

Just over 2,000 UK adults were asked for their opinion.

Norrington goes on to say: “If the government is as serious about encouraging home building as it appears to be from the recent reforms and announcements, it needs to better promote brownfield land registers and it should offer individual self builders parity with commercial developers in terms of economic incentives.

“Since the introduction of government legislation on 1 April 2016, self build projects have become a more recognised and viable choice for many people. However, we feel that much more could be done in respect of brownfield sites.

“Ensuring brownfield land registers are more widely recognised, as well as making this type of site more attractive financially, would be beneficial to both the government’s housing targets and its environmental ambitions.”