Shapps said that he wanted self build to become a mainstream housing option - and that government will make available publicly owned land for use by ordinary people to build their own homes.
Self-builders account for about one in five of Britain's new homes each year according to government figures. But barriers and red tape have led to the UK having one of the lowest proportions of new homes built by self-builders in Europe.
Shapps said he wanted to see more land being made available - both private and public - to enable more individual and community self-build schemes. He called on private investors to bring forward plots, and for local authorities and Housing Associations to show their support.
He will shortly announce the first publicly-owned sites to be made available to housebuilders to include plots exclusively for self-builders.
This will be part of wider government measures announced in the Budget to increase the amount of land made available for housebuilding.
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