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Housing experts have questioned the government鈥檚 focus on the self-build industry after housing minister Grant Shapps led a fact-finding trip to Holland.

Shapps this week travelled to Almere - billed as the largest low-cost self-build experiment in Europe - to learn lessons from the Dutch self-build industry and

He was accompanied by Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud, who is aiming to raise public awareness of the benefits of self-building and help promote the industry as anambassador for the National Self-Build Association.

But Andy von Bradsky, chairman of PRP Architects, warned that self-build is 鈥渘o panacea for the housing crisis鈥�.

He said: 鈥淚n the current circumstances, you need to pull all the levers you can. I think Shapps is right to pull this one, but it鈥檚 not the most important. I was in Almere in March and arguably it鈥檚 not ideal urban design. There are all sorts of issues over what is provided in terms of infrastructure.鈥�

John Stewart, director of economic affairs at the Home Builders Federation (HBF), said: 鈥淲e have an acute housing crisis and so all initiatives to increase supply are welcome. However,
self-build is only a small part of the solution and government must continue to develop main stream solutions to address the shortfall.鈥�

This week Shapps said the self-build industry was 鈥渞iding the crest of a wave鈥�, with the number of mortgages available to self-builders set to rise by 141%. He added that more than 100,000 people are looking for self-build plots in the UK.

He said he wanted to ensure that 鈥渁nyone who wants to embark on a self-build project has the opportunity to do so鈥�.

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