Our Self Build Plot at Graven Hill

The first step in any self build project is finding a suitable plot that will accommodate the size and style of home you want. We’ve chosen Graven Hill – the UK’s largest self build and custom build home development, near Bicester in Oxfordshire – as the ideal location for Build It’s Self Build Education House.

One of the golden rules of self building is that the design should always start with the site, so selecting the right plot was inevitably going to be a critical part of our scheme. There are a range of benefits to self building at Graven Hill – one of which is that you’ll have a very clear idea of what you can build before you buy your plot.

Through the Plot Passports, you get an early-stage glimpse at the main design parameters for each site, including the number of bedrooms you can have, the orientation of the building and the likely ground conditions.

A Map of the Graven Hill site. Build It’s plot is in the top left-hand corner, slightly apart from the main site and backing on to the homes featured in Grand Designs: The Street

This makes it far easier to visualise what you might be able to achieve on the plot you’re considering. Plus, provided your scheme falls within the guidelines, you should get fast-track planning permission within 28 days.

What’s more, aspects such as services and access are already taken care of. So there’s no risk of issues such as ransom strips (pieces of privately owned land) or restrictive covenants derailing a project. You also know you’ll be getting a clear, level plot – with foundations supplied according to your design.

Where is Build It’s self build plot?

The volume of home building opportunities at Graven Hill makes a staggered release of plots vital, to ensure that people aren’t continually living next to a construction site. The coloured-in houses on the masterplan (pictured above) represent the plots available in Phase 1a and 1b. These sit at the centre of the development, set around the primary school and backing onto the meadow and wooded hill.

The zone containing Build It’s plot is set apart slightly from Phase 1, up in the top left corner and denoted by the pink-hued buildings, which have a south-westerly aspect. To the rear are 10 Demonstrator Plots. They were the first sites sold at Graven Hill; these projects are being filmed by Channel 4 for a special Grand Designs: The Street TV series.

Our section of the project forms part of the Community Streets Character Area of Graven Hill. These zones consist predominantly of detached plots, and offer the highest level of design flexibility across the development. Creative expression is therefore encouraged in terms of the palette of materials – but there are still a number of site-wide rules to abide by, such as ridge height limitations.

Build It’s Self Build Education House will occupy the corner plot 0592 (edged in red on the location plan below). Our neighbours will be a series of show homes.

This location plan shows the Build It Education House plot, edged in red, along with some key design requirements – including the maximum footprint in m2 and the permitted ridge height

The salmon-hued blocks on each plot represent the build zone – so the house must fit within its borders. The turquoise triangles mark where services have been taken up to the boundary.

One of the interesting features of Graven Hill is that the plots aren’t much bigger than you might see on a standard development. Our site has a total depth of just over twice the permitted length of the building – enough to get some parking on the front driveway, and a modest but functional back garden. The plot stretches to 330m2 in total.

This isn’t your classic Grand Designs misadventure set on five acres of land and overlooking miles of unbroken countryside – although some of the plots do benefit from views over green space (ours included).