In the summer of 1990, a weighty tome entitled Individual Homes landed on the newsstand. Brought into fruition by founding editor Peter Harris, the magazine’s aim was simple: to educate and inspire those hoping to create a one-off home — whether that involved building a new home, renovating a house (or extending an existing property), or converting a redundant building into a dwelling.
By autumn 1997, the quarterly title had become a monthly magazine, had a new editor, Michael Holmes (who remains a cornerstone of our shows to this day), and a new name: Homebuilding & Renovating. However, the ethos of the magazine remained the same.
Over the years, the magazine and its readers have weathered a major recession, numerous revisions to planning permission rules and building legislation (both good and bad), changing design trends and a long succession of housing ministers — and governments for that matter.
And the self build and renovation market continues to grow and evolve to this day. The emergence of Graven Hill, a large-scale self build site, for instance, would have been unheard of back in 1990, but is testament to just how far the industry has come.
What has remained a constant is the pioneering spirit of the self-builder and renovator — a willingness to push the boundaries and to tread the often challenging but rewarding path to creating an individual home.
Homebuilding & Renovating has grown into so much more than a magazine over the last 30 years, too. Our eight UK Shows, this website, our plotfinding service (Plotfinder.net) and more recently, video and social media channels, mean we’re now on hand 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, should you need us.
Over the next 12 months, we’ll be sharing some of our favourite memories and bringing you special content to mark the occasion.
Thank you for celebrating with us.
Our Anniversary Partners
