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The name of the club is Self Build Homes Club llc, it is a limited company registered in Delaware USA.
The address for UK members in the UK is SBHC, Club Services, PO Box 887, Cheltenham, GL52 9WY, telephone 01242-678988, to send a fax call the phone number and ask the best number to send it to.
The club has made arrangements for members in the UK to be able to communicate with the club through Club Services a division of Maximum Coverage Ltd who provide administration and subscription services in the UK for this club and many other clubs and non profit organisations, and have been doing so for many years. They are not agents for the club but contracted by the club, through NAISC, to provide specific services.
The clubs head office is at 1133 Broadway Suite 706, New York NY 10010, USA. Telephone 212-465-2602 Fax 212-465-2607. For addresses for other countries see the websites for the countries concerned.
Operating internationally, the club has rules applicable to each country it is operating in. The club has a complete equality program, so no set of rules is more beneficial than any other, although the means of delivering services to members may vary from one country to another. In most cases the rules will apply that relate to the country that the home is to be built in.
Our rules are written in plain English to make them easy for all members to understand.
This set of rules is for those who are looking to build a home in the UK, and for members who live within the UK who wish to develop a holiday home in another country.
As a New Atlantis trust any dispute between this club and any other New Atlantis trust, or member can be referred to New Atlantis to arbitrate on, or to recommend a solution. New Atlantis is a non profit corporation registered in the UK, with the principle purpose of improving the quality of peoples lives. It has no connection with any political or religious organisation.
This club was set up to empower people to build their own homes individually or as a part of a consortium or group project.
It does not have an objective to create any profits in excess of maintaining its long term survival. It is neither a charity nor defined officially as a non profit company.
This it believes can be achieved by sharing information on their website and by providing members with a range of services and publications, these services include help in understanding self build, in identifying their needs and in finding a suitable plot, it may also involve matching members with projects the club or those connected with it can create. Land search operations and obtaining planning consent with others the club sees as a function of some projects. The club may also create or run a variety of special projects or groups where it helps it achieve its objectives.
The club does not build or manage builds, but empowers members to manage their own build or helps them to appoint a project manager, it may also put together groups of people and matches them to projects that jointly they can run to allow builds to occur.
Formally set up at the instruction of a number of existing entities led by New Atlantis, as a separate company, and fits within a pattern of clubs and operations New Atlantis and others are promoting. New Atlantis is a non profit company, a company limited by guarantee registered in the UK, whose principle purpose is to improve the life of its members and others. It has no connection with any political or religious group.
The club has been established by New Atlantis International Services Corporation, (NAISC), based on policy decisions by New Atlantis, working with the Property Pension Club and others.
The club is independent of all other clubs, companies and others it is Associated with. None of which are its agents. Club services are provided under a contract through New Atlantis International Services Corporation, who commission other companies and organisations to provide individual or group services to each other and to members to achieve the objectives set.
The use of commissioned providers of services provides both scalability to meet demand and allows local needs to be met. This is a transparent format that allows members to deal with local experts in their own country and time zone. So although an international club and company, members in the UK will have little experience of the international formation, except in resources and management style, until such time that they decide to build outside the UK.
The club places no specific restrictions on directorships, or shareholdings across service companies, and within a family of cooperating companies, it is common for close working and financial arrangements to exist between those who work together, and over time for arrangements to change, new people take on roles and companies and others evolve. It is a part of the role of NAISC as the commissioner of services to monitor this and to satisfy themselves of the suitability of arrangements, in that it will enhance the range and quality of services provided, they will do this in the monitoring of all service providers. To allow this monitoring they will hold confidential information on service providers, which they will not disclose to others. Their decision on these matters will be final.
For the UK the commissioning arrangements are:
Commissioned providers who provide services for the club to achieve its objectives include:-
Administration to be undertaken by Maximum Coverage Ltd.
Websites to be set up and maintained by Atlantis Virtual World Ltd.
Affordable properties may involve joint ventures with the Affordable Homes Project, a non profit UK organisation, and others.
Property policy advice and search advice by H3 Search Ltd.
Subscription collection and accounting by Maximum Coverage Ltd.
Publications to be handled by Knowledge Base Publications Ltd. Joint venture public free information publication project with the WorldWide Library, a UK non profit organisation.
Property options held by special commissioned companies and special companies set up to undertake this, including Self Build llc, Homes and Property Ltd and New Atlantis Property Ltd.
Public Relations and education in the UK by Self Build Homes Club Ltd, a separate company that is not owned by or an agent of the club, but operates under a licence to use the name so as to protect the name in the UK.
Monitoring, quality control and audit in the UK by Independent FactFinders, a UK non profit organisation.
Recruitment is by existing members, who qualify for points under the Bpoints program and are also introduced by the public relations company. The Public relations company receives no reward for introductions made.
The range of commissioned service providers is increased by joint venture agreement with other organisations, as well as other cooperative projects and shared intelligence with Property Club International, the Property Pension Club, Holiday Property Club and others. Over time these arrangements are being extended to allow our members to get most of the benefits of belonging to these other organisations at no additional cost to our members. This is achieved by extending the commissioning philosophy to include being able to commission through each others services and where possible having common or joint commissioning arrangements.
Other services to meet promotional, functional and club service needs are bought in as required, by the club or through NAISC.
The club employs no staff of its own. The officers and directors of the club are those appointed by the full members at its annual meeting, or at other times by the officers and directors currently appointed.
The club works in cooperation with the Property Pension Club, which provides it with information in relation to buy to let, and property investing and development in countries it is not yet involved in, or have consultants in.
Over time the clubs will evolve further, and extend the range of services and coverage, Property Club International (PCI) for example, is developing franchise arrangements to allow a faster geographic spread and far better coverage far faster, and will evolve into handling intra country developments and property purchases, while builds within the same country will be the speciality of the Self Build Homes Club, but both will work even closer together offering each others members all the services we offer our own members. While PCI will come to have far greater geographical coverage, SBHC will be its source of information on developing and constructing property. In some cases it will be more sensible for members to transfer to PCI or from PCI to SBHC, where better services to members can be provided, and this will be able to be done on equal membership types, at no cost to members. Currently Property Club International recommends anyone in Britain who wishes to use its services to join the Self Build Homes Club, as SBHC can access all the services PCI can, but quicker and more effectively.
Changes to the way that the Property Pension Club is run and administered, membership types and redefined services is in hand, so that they too will be able to share services with the other clubs making the range of services available to each club that much wider. This also means that when you join any one of the co-operating clubs, you get most of the services of the others at no extra cost. Although the clubs are providing more for the same subscriptions, they are able to do this by closer working and cost savings by using shared commissioning structures.
The club has two classes of members, and many membership types. The classes of members are:-
Unless otherwise specified membership is as an Associate member.
Membership types, relate to the type and style of the project a member wishes to be involved in. The cost of membership is scaled to reflect the amount of compatibility between services undertaken and to therefore reflect the amount of cost incurred by the club in helping different project types. This is defined further under subscriptions.
Associate members can be subscription or life members, a subscription member pays a joining fee and monthly or annual subscription while a life member pays just a far larger one-time fee. Members can convert from a subscription member at any point to become a life member. Financially it is cost effective to be a life member if a person is to be a member for more than 8 years.
Full members have to be life members.
Affiliates are not members, and are a feature of the Bpoints program, so as to allow an alternative membership route for those who do not want to pay to join the club, to earn their membership in cooperation with existing members.
Becoming an Associate member involves
Membership will be granted to all equally, irrelative of sex, age, nationality, religion, disability and all other features. Membership will normally be refused and any up front fees returned to anyone who has been deemed by New Atlantis as unreliable and this will include anyone who has acted dishonestly towards this club or any other New Atlantis supported club or company, or its officers or directors, and anyone who has been expelled from any club Associated with New Atlantis, or other deemed unreliable by New Atlantis. New Atlantis does not maintain a list open to inspection of those considered unreliable. If you are informed that you have been refused membership on the grounds of being deemed unreliable you should contact New Atlantis International Services Corporation who will explain to you how this has occurred, and how to appeal against this if you feel it to be unjust. This affects very few people.
Membership may be deferred if the club is unable, at the time, to handle the number of new members, or is at that time limiting new members to specific projects or areas. In the case of a deferred membership the club can make specific regulations and modify these over time as to how joining fees are held, and if members who have not yet become Associate members and received benefits can get back all or a part of the joining fee before their membership is confirmed. When memberships are being deferred and 14 days before any deferment starts or changes, a notice will be included on the website page on membership explaining the current rules in force over deferments. When no notice is present, deferment will not take place. This rule is precautionary, the club has no current plans to ever do this, and the scalability afforded by commissioning should allow it to respond to changes in demand within a reasonable time scale.
All or any group of members, or individual members can be suspended at any point on notice from the club, and this could be as a result of action under or outside the control of the club, or its capability to handle further member services at this time. While memberships are suspended no subscriptions are due but subscriptions become due again immediately that members are informed that the suspension has been lifted.
Full membership is by invitation only, they have to become diamond life members and make a donation to the club, where the guide rate is to be in excess of the life membership rate for the diamond type of membership available to Associate members. The club may also grant honorary full memberships in recognition of voluntary work done for the club in exceptional circumstances. The services they receive are the same as Associate members.
You can resign your membership by giving 6 months notice in writing and returning by the end of this notice period any documents, cd roms, kits, trade cards or other material that you hold that is the property of the club. You may keep for your own use only, any completed work books or other documentation specific to your own projects, but must keep its content and layout confidential. Providing this is complied with you will be considered reliable and be allowed to rejoin this or other New Atlantis supported clubs in the future.
If you wish to leave the club immediately you can do so by sending in a written notice to that effect, together with a payment to cover the equivalent of 6 months subscriptions, and any documents, cd roms, kits, trade cards or other material that you hold that is the property of the club.
Members may be resigned by the club, and then given the normal 6 months notice of leaving. In most cases, but is not limited to cases where continuing membership is not considered beneficial to either the member or the club. You may also be resigned by the club if you become classed as unreliable by New Atlantis at some time, and in this case you would be informed of this and within the remaining membership time you could resolve why this had occurred with New Atlantis International Services Corporation, who may also extend the notice period if it feels the case to do so is just. They will be asked to return any documents, cd roms, kits, trade cards or other material that you hold that is the property of the club.
Members can be expelled if they fail to keep up subscriptions and they become 3 months in arrears, they break the rules of the club, they undertake some act that is harmful to the club or its officers or directors, breach the confidentiality of the club or otherwise after a warning of any action or course they are taking that the club feels is incompatible with membership continuing. People who are expelled from membership may be classed as unreliable as far as application for membership to any other club or operation being supported by New Atlantis and would then be unlikely to be considered for future involvement in any of these.
After leaving the club you are still expected to act in a way that is compatible with continuing friendship between you and the club, this includes maintaining confidentiality of any information you have shared or intelligence on any projects coming up or in hand and also being friendly towards both the club, its officers and directors and not undertaking anything that will harm the club its officers, directors, members or projects. Breach of this will involve the ex member being consider unreliable by all New Atlantis clubs and operations in the future.
On leaving the club it is the leaving members responsibility to cancel any standing arrangements to pay monthly subscriptions and after that any further payments they do make will be considered donations by them to New Atlantis, towards expanding the range of projects available, and handed over to New Atlantis International Services Corporation for this purpose.
Should the club be unable to provide services for any reason then if possible, it will first suspend all memberships for a period to give it a chance to seek help from New Atlantis or others and reorganise its structure, while memberships are suspended no monthly subscriptions are payable.
If the club feels that it is unlikely to be able again to be able to offer the membership services, then it will inform all members of this, and all memberships will then become automatically resigned. Members will be invited at that time to cancel any standing arrangements to pay monthly subscriptions and after that any further payments they do make will be considered donations by them to New Atlantis and handed over to New Atlantis International Services Corporation for this purpose.
The club may decide at a set point to give a period of notice as to the closure of the club and will then not be open to new members joining. Existing members may continue to be a member up to the point that the club then closes.
In the case of the club closing any surplus trading or other funds will be donated to New Atlantis International Services Corporation with a request that it is used towards the continuing work of the New Atlantis philosophy of improving people’s lives.
Property Club International, the Holiday Property Club, Property Pension Club, and Self Build Homes Club cooperate closely together and have similar commissioning structures, plus are able to utilise via commissioning arrangements any of the services provided by any of the others. Currently membership types and rates are being brought into line with the Self Build Homes Club and Property Club International. As any member of any club will be able to get the benefits of membership of any other at no additional cost to them, it does not make sense for any member to be a member of more than one of these clubs. They have an agreement that from June 2005, that any member of any one may transfer to the same grade in any of the others at no additional cost to them, this means that as projects are completed and interests change they may wish to switch from one club to another, and will be able to do so without having to give notice or to pay another joining fee. This applies to both life members and subscription members but not to full members, although special arrangements may be made available to these.
At this time any Associate member of any of these other clubs can transfer in to the Self Build Homes Club without paying a joining fee and at the same or similar type. Where there is no direct match of grades they may choose from the nearest types available. Members of the SBHC may also transfer to Property Club International now but not to the other two at this time. Property Club International does not have subscription or administration arrangements in the UK, but should have before long.
The clubs will also suggest which club is most appropriate for new members to join, so as to get the best service. For all UK members interested in property development this is the Self Build Homes Club.
The clubs membership fees structure involves the payment of a joining fee and monthly or annual subscription, and is scaled by membership type to reflect the cost the club is going to incur in providing the range of services that will allow them to succeed. Once you are a member the subscription rate cannot rise unless you are given 12 months notice, or you wish to change to another membership type. Should you apply for membership at a time when membership rates are increased, then your application will be at the old rate if the envelope is post marked at a date on or before the new rate is posted on the website.
If you do not live in the UK, you should enquire as to who is your local commissioned administration company and where and in what currency to pay your subscription, and what membership types apply.
Associate Members can be subscription members who pay their subscriptions monthly or annually or life members who make a single one time payment. It is more cost effective to become a life member when a person expects to be a member for more than 8 years.
Full membership is by invitation only, they have to become life members and make a donation to the club, where the guide rate is the life membership rate for the highest type of membership available to Associate members. The services they receive are the same as Associate members.
The following table shows the current Associate membership types, subscriptions and type description for members who live within the UK, and property they intend to build is to be in the UK, or live in the UK and the property they wish to build is a holiday home elsewhere. Members throughout Europe and North America can also use these membership types where they wish to use member services in the UK and attend meetings with consultants in the UK. All of these membership types are unique to the UK rules except the diamond type which also appears within the north American rules and rates. Others who would like to use these membership classes should first ask.
| Membership type |
Membership costs | Description |
| Bronze | Joining
Fee £1,200
Monthly subscription £68 |
Affordable homes, mostly estates but some in fills, of standard size and similar style to the average new house on a modern estate, but probably around 40% cheaper. Mostly 1, 2 and 3 bedroom homes, of similar design with a single garage. |
| Silver | Joining
Fee £2,200
Monthly subscription £99
|
Executive homes, larger homes, rooms or plots. Built normally on estates, infill, or a small site with one or two properties. May involve replacing another property. Attractive to those who could afford an average home or better but would like a large home, higher rooms, and other features of an executive home at about the same price as a standard home. Probably around a 40% saving on homes of a similar design. Also smaller homes more geographically limited, for example wanting to be in a particular village or small area. |
| Gold | Joining
Fee £4,200
Monthly subscription £168 Plus time and expenses specific to the project, beyond what would have been involved in a project involving a standard executive home. This is often extra time spent undertaking work and negotiating with planners so as to get planning consent. |
Larger executive homes, and where location becomes more important, perhaps a view, near a river or lake, in landscaped setting. Could be on an estate but more likely to be a single home or one of a pair in a larger plot. May involve knocking down an existing property and replacing, particularly with country settings. The above with around a 40% saving, barn and mill conversions, with variable savings depending on site and style, plus contemporary homes individually designed and perhaps more difficult to get planning consent for, with often a lower saving. |
| Platinum | Joining Fee £8,200. Monthly subscription £200.Plus time and expenses specific to the project. | Mansion, new large country home, or exceptional position. These often require large sites and the area has to often be more select. |
| Diamond | Joining Fee £25,000. Monthly subscription £500.Plus all time and expenses specific to the project. | Palace or larger mansion home internationally. Exceptional situations. |
Other variations upon this table are below, which also includes life memberships, upgrading to life membership and moving up a single type.
| Type |
Joining fee |
Monthly subs |
Annual subs |
Upgrade 1 type* |
Life membership including Joining fee |
Upgrade to life membership |
| Bronze |
1200 |
68 |
816 |
|
7728 |
6528 |
| Silver |
2200 |
99 |
1188 |
1600 |
11704 |
9504 |
| Gold |
4200 |
168 |
2016 |
3100 |
20328 |
16128 |
| Platinum |
8200 |
200 |
2400 |
6100 |
27400 |
19200 |
| Diamond |
25000 |
500 |
6000 |
20900 |
73000 |
48000 |
The selection of membership type relates to the type of opportunities and plots that the member is to be introduced to. This has nothing to do with how they choose to finish the property or other options that are added, therefore if they see the home they would like as being similar to a standard executive home in their area but prefer to have a better finish, perhaps a nicer kitchen, bathrooms, power saving, central vacuum, music system and more, then it's still an executive home as far as the club classification is concerned.
The concept behind these types and rates is that some types of members will be more likely to be involved in larger joint projects, so work and therefore cost is shared. The cost to the club therefore of providing each of 10 affordable homes on a combined estate is far lower than the cost of searching out a single ideal spot with views in the countryside and seeking consent to build there. Consultants are also more likely to have to drive long distances on one off missions in some types of search than with others, and more likely to have more negotiating and follow up troubleshooting to be involved in. The financial benefits to members, achieved through their membership, are also far greater with larger and more spectacular sites and locations.
Members may upgrade to the membership type above by paying just the difference in joining fee and subscription, if they do this by the time that the consultant has completed their first draft of their specification, following his first meeting with them. After this the rates above apply.
Upgrading one membership type is shown in the table above, to move more than a single type the joining fee is calculated as the new joining fee for the type wanted, less half the joining fee for the current type held, and then changing the subscription to the new type.
Changing to a lower type involves giving 6 months notice of your intention to change a type and then dropping the monthly subscription to the required type.
Subscriptions must be kept up to date at all times, and any time that subscriptions are not, you will not be invited to participate in new projects or have new services. If you allow your subscription to become out of date you may therefore miss opportunities. So this cannot happen routinely, we ask that subscriptions be set up either as standing order or standing instruction to charge them against your credit card. If subscriptions become 3 months overdue you will be expelled in line with the section on leaving the club above.
The income of the club is used for the running of the club and providing membership services, we have no paid staff or directors. Most of the services are provided or are organised by companies that meet our selective standards and who hold New Atlantis trust status. The provision of services is organised by New Atlantis International Services Corporation. The exact way this is done is organised by New Atlantis International Services Corporation in consultation with others and administration and club subscription collecting is undertaken by Maximum Coverage Ltd in the UK.
Under no circumstances are joining fees and membership fees, once paid, refundable.
In line with other clubs and operations that work together connected with New Atlantis, this club does not currently have a bank account in the UK, so incurs no banking charges itself. Subscriptions and joining fees are paid to Maximum Coverage Ltd, and Maximum Coverage Ltd at the clubs instruction pays these funds out to cover costs incurred or on to New Atlantis International Services Corporation to provide under contract the services and cover other costs. If New Atlantis International Services Corporation has any surpluses these are used towards other activities New Atlantis is involved with, and similar funds from other clubs where available to help establish this club. In the longer term if surplus funds do start to occur regularly it is the intention to set up a discretionary trust to make full use of these surpluses. If the clubs funds are insufficient to meet running costs, then under the service contract, New Atlantis International Services Corporation can be asked for a loan or grant to cover these, so as to allow the club to continue to function. The financial objective overall is to be able to provide for members the services we specify independent of income generated. The club was not set up to create profits.
Maximum Coverage Ltd is commissioned through NAISC to provide administrative and membership accounting assistance, and is not an agent of the club, nor is it a part of the supply chain for services. Services are provided by other commissioned providers. Maximum Coverage Ltd can as a part of its remit, also pass on information, or ask the relevant service provider to contact you, without having to go through several other steps, this is an administrative task, not a part of the service chain of delivery. While it may make payments to some service providers on behalf of the club or NAISC it does this as a function of its administrative role and under instruction, it is not a part of the transaction or an agent of either.
In order to provide the range of services for members it is necessary to locate building plots and to find land that with planning consent can become building plots.
Where negotiation only is involved for a member, neither the club, nor anyone Associated with it will receive any margin or commission on the sale of a building plot to that member.
Where land is involved and costs have to be incurred to get plans, site drawn and where option purchase fees and planning application fees are involved, together with any other fees or costs, then this is done by a separate property company commissioned to undertake this, and in the price of the plot to members, the costs are recovered. As not all projects that start result in planning being obtained and projects being practical, the actual amount added in to recover costs will be at least sufficient, that over time, the total cost will be recovered across all projects, successful and otherwise. In some cases the way this is done is by selling the option to the project group, who then have the plans, permissions and the right to purchase the land at the pre agreed price. In some other cases the land may form multiple projects or involve other special arrangements, may involve arrangements to sell individual plots to members or groups set up to undertake the build, or individuals. In other cases this may involve joint ventures with companies connected or not connected with the club or New Atlantis to allow these opportunities to develop and then introduce these opportunities to members or groups of members. H3 Search Ltd is the commissioned lead service provider involved in property search for members in the UK, and must approve every property or plot offer before it is made by any service provider to a member. H3 Search Ltd is not permitted under their contact with NAISC to take any share itself in any margin on any land transaction to members, or receive any commission on them. You will see from this, that under this rule, we have as much flexibility as we should feel we need to allow any project to come about.
The club will endeavour to create projects or opportunities that will allow members to become involved in self build. At the simplest level this may involve identifying, visiting and detailing existing building plots and opportunities. By being able to keep in touch with all opportunities as they materialise through agents, and by actively searching for opportunities, and visiting these, we would hope to be able to match members requirements with some of what is available.
By being proactive, encouraging people to think about selling land that they own for building plots and looking at how different land could be used so as to produce building plots, by talking to councils and others and looking to create new developments, we would hope to be able to generate more building plots suitable for self build projects.
We will look to become involved in joint ventures with developers utilising some sections or plots within their sites. These joint ventures will usually be organised so as to go through a commissioned service provider rather than the club directly.
It is the intention of the club to become instrumental in establishing a land bank specialising in investing in land that may one day become available as self build plots. It will also seek to encourage others to become involved in identifying and providing plots, that may suit the needs of members.
The club will encourage where practical an option to be obtained on the land or plot, that will allow a set time for the purchase to be completed within. Options in most cases will be held by a commissioned service provider.
By looking with members at what they need and profiling their requirements we would hope to both be able to match members with what becomes available and also to proactively look to create projects that meet these needs.
Members which have an interest in projects in an area will normally have their requirements reviewed every time a suitable site is identified, we will be looking to get a best fit, between opportunity and member, and a shortlist of potential members who could possibly be interested made. This shortlist may be thinned out on the basis of the profile, style of property and other factors, previous experience or calling to check their interest level and any negative factors of the site. The members on the shortlist will then be introduced on the basis of the best fit, and within this, in the order that they become a member, so that the person who has been the member the longest has the first chance. They will be told all the costs involved in the acquisition of the plot and the current state of planning with restrictions that apply. We will not normally introduce members to projects without outline planning consent, except where we have been led to believe that this planning will be able to be achieved without great difficulty, as in the case of a section of an area of land that is currently shown in the area plan as being for residential housing or for mixed use.
When members have been identified who wish to proceed they will be either introduced directly to the agent or owner of the plot or where a group is involved to build a number of houses on a site, we will ask each to sign a letter of understanding, The letter of understanding setting out the basics for the establishment of a build group for the project. The group will be established on the basis of the letter of understanding between its members and this group will then manage the project themselves, appointing their own project manager, although the club will help them to select the project manager if required. The letter of understanding will set out the cost of the plots and other features that have been established prior to the group being formed and will also explain who is to be paid for the plot and or options involved. It will also state what sections of the land remain if any, and where it does, who will own it, as this may explain why there is a lower price on each plot or why no option cost have to be recovered.
Members which for any reason pull out of a project may continue to be considered for other projects but the reason why they pulled out needs to be identified and steps taken to overcome the problem so that this is unlikely to happen again.
Members who are unable to continue with a project will inform the club at once and the club will do its best to find another member to take up the option.
Members will not take opportunities, sell these on to third parties and then return to the club to take another opportunity, as this is unfair to other members.
There is no limit to the number of projects a member can become involved in, but all involvement must be for their own benefit and they cannot sell on these benefits to any other person unless the property has been built first. Where they have taken up several opportunities in an area, and opportunities are insufficient to match all requirements, then we may put a delay on when they may be considered for the next opportunity, so as to give other members a fair chance.
UK members can become involved in any projects the club is involved in, in any country.
Services will be provided by a combination of UK based service providers and providers in other countries, or by special arrangements with specialist UK providers.
Many of the developments UK members wish to become involved in outside the UK will be met by a combination of local arrangement and joint working arrangements with other clubs and in particular Property Club International, the Holiday Property Club and the Property Pension Club. Arrangements are in hand and over time will mean that SBHC members will be able to access the services offered by these clubs to same member types within their club at no additional cost. Members will also be able to transfer between these clubs to the same membership type at no cost to them from June 2005.
Services can also be provided by combining groups of members with similar interests.
The club is able to identify for UK members collections of building plots, and property that would be suitable for further development through every state in the USA, plus much of Canada. It is able to furnish contacts, map locations and generally advise members in the UK very fast on the opportunities.
It is the intention of the Club to set up special interest groups for UK members, targeting each group at a specific country, and utilising knowledge from many sources including cooperation with the Property Pension Club to allow the groups to help members in their desire to build in these countries. In many cases we know members are interested, as well as building a UK home, to build a holiday property elsewhere, and it is envisaged these groups will assist in this objective. Groups will be developed country by country, so please make sure the club becomes aware of your interests.
As a general guide sourcing plots in the USA and Canada, is not difficult and can be achieved quicker than the UK, in most other countries it will take longer, partly through the lower amount of searching being undertaken and the need to bunch expeditions so as to look for several members at the same time.
We advise all who seek to undertake builds outside an English speaking country that they should first become fluent in the local language, or to involve a person you can absolutely trust who is.
You will encounter differences of culture, build technique and law, as well as different standards of work, and ideas of time schedules. The club does not undertake to provide consultants to speak other languages than English.
You need to find, by reliable independent means, what planning or other consent is necessary for whatever work you propose to do, and you should not rely upon estate agents, or assume you can do anything without checking. It is a common problem that people lacking local knowledge expect to do things that in their home area they would never attempt or expect to do.
Together with the Property Pension Club and some others we currently advise against any developments in Spain, due to the land grab laws that are a very high risk to property investors. In many countries, particularly in Europe and Asia, you need to be aware of the risks involved, often involving multiple levels of red tape and rules that may change mid way through a build, where it is beneficial to a local.
You should see the latest advice from the Property Pension Club in relation to property in other countries. Non nationals, are not allowed to own land or property in many countries, and it is therefore often necessary to do so through a local company, and you may not have full control of this.
For most overseas builds we suggest you have a project manager, and that the project manager can speak both English well and the local language.
You should become aware of risks Associated with currency exchange rate changes, and how a mortgage in one currency being paid from another can suddenly become expensive to you.
Where the land or property you are to develop is in the USA, the club can, in co-operation with Maximum Coverage Ltd, handle currency and fund transfers, and undertake the paying of dollar bills, taxes, and other costs at your instructions, through the clubs dollar account, on receipt of the equivalent funds and transfer costs charged by the banks, through Maximum Coverage Ltd in the UK. To find out more about this service please ask.
It is current practice that many members do help the club, mostly in small ways, and we expect this practise to continue. This is coordinated by consultants.
Currently the role of lead member has not been implemented. We are developing ideas around lead members as follows.
While most members will be happy for the club to organise things and then involve members when opportunities worth considering are known, some members may wish to become more proactive in their area and work more closely with the club, in looking at plots, land and working to increase the supply of plots, in helping members to become more actively involved in the build process or in other ways such as talking to suppliers about the clubs trade card and getting special discounts for members.
Members who wish to become more proactively involved may volunteer to become a lead member. The activities of the lead members in an area will be coordinated by the consultant, we have asked to look at sites and members requirements in the area. Information on member’s needs and profiles will not be shared with lead members, but they may be given a general profile of the type and size of land/plots we are looking to find. Lead members are asked not to do more than they have agreed with the consultant as on some occasions there is the risk that if a number of people were to look independently and try to carry out negotiations we could end up competing with ourselves. Confidentiality of opportunities seen is of course absolutely essential. On some occasions the consultant may take one or more lead members to see plots or to work through possibilities.
The secondary role where lead members can get more involved is where the individual has a lot of experience of the construction of houses and takes on a leading role in a project where people can become more directly involved in hands on self build.
The advantage to the club of utilising lead members services are to both allow more opportunities to be found and also to give those who want to be proactive a chance to be involved and to play a valid and helpful role.
There is no connection between being a lead member and the Bpoints program.
We suggest that members initially get to understand self build and their own needs and desires, before considering becoming involved as a lead member of their area. Once they have a complete understanding on what it is that they wish to do and self build generally, then if you wish to become more actively involved in the area, please let us know and your efforts can be coordinated so as to get the best effects.
The more lead members, help and involvement there is by members, the more that can be achieved faster.
Any member may feel that they can volunteer to help in a small way, to fit within their available time and experience, but short of becoming a lead member.
The Bpoints program has its own set of rules and the main points only are covered here.
At this time the Bpoints program is unique to the Self Build Homes Club, but other clubs are looking to join soon.
The Bpoints program exists to reward members who help the club significantly. As members we should all of course strive to help the club grow and be as effective as it can, as well as to help other members when we can, but some may want to help far more. In most cases this will be connected with the spreading of information and new members being recruited, and is not necessarily connected with becoming a lead member.
The Bpoints program is administered in the UK by Maximum Coverage Ltd on behalf of New Atlantis International Services Corporation. The program is funded by New Atlantis International Services Corporation from savings made in the promotion of the club, or in other savings made via the program.
A Bpoint has no commercial value in its own right, individual Bpoints cannot be used for anything, but groups of Bpoints can be exchanged under a variety of offers that will be made from time to time by New Atlantis International Services Corporation. There is no direct connection between the number of Bpoints and value of the benefit being offered.
Bpoints are granted at the discretion of the club and are not a right.
Bpoints are not transferable other than where you wish to donate them to New Atlantis, towards use in its discretionary pool, or from an affiliate to the member they are affiliated to.
To exchange Bpoints your membership must be up to date, your membership not suspended for any reason, and the Bpoints earned must have been awarded within the last 4 years. Bpoints more than 4 years old, that have not been exchanged, will evaporate from your account and will be donated to a discretionary points pool that New Atlantis may call upon to assist specific projects.
You will be able to use Bpoints in many ways, from acquiring life membership of the club, through earning a deposit for a home to the purchase of specific items such as oil paintings and framed prints.
The full rules of the Bpoints program and the current offers will be displayed on the clubs website, and we can add more offers over time as we wish. Some offers may be for a fixed time only and this will, where applicable, be shown on the website. Unless we are forced to by outside authorities, or other actions or risks outside our control, we will not withdraw any offer without first converting it to a limited time offer, with at least 6 months left.
As to the way that you recruit new members, we ask that you are honest, truthful and not mislead people who join. Never try to pressurize anyone in to joining, allow those who are not interested to have the right to choose not to become involved. Like all clubs we want to keep as many of our members as happy as we can, don't want to give false hopes that cannot be achieved, and encourage members to become as involved as they wish. We also ask that amongst the information that you produce is an exact copy of the current membership rules and conditions, the short rules are fine, and that you make sure that you leave a copy with all new members you sign up. Bpoints will only be awarded where you have kept within the above, and be awarded to you once the consultant has visited them, and they have done some work towards their profile. You will be emailed or mailed to tell you when the Bpoints have been granted.
Bpoints can be shared with other members or affiliates as defined within the Bpoints program. An affiliate is a person introduced by and affiliated to the member, and is a means by which non members can acquire Bpoints to allow them to qualify for membership and cover subscriptions without involving payments to this club. Affiliates are not members, and the involvement of affiliates is defined within the Bpoints program rules. The member they are associated with is responsible for making sure that they stay within the rules of the Bpoints program and do not do anything that will be detrimental to prospective members or this club.
The clubs trade card is available to all members, providing their membership is up to date. Application for a trade card will be made on the application form for the purpose, and will be supported by a photograph or digital image of the person mentioned on the form.
In addition to a trade card in their own name they may have a second card in the name of a partner. This should be a partner that is going to be involved in the build projects with them, so may be a wife, husband, boyfriend or girlfriend, friend who lives with you, or a person who is jointly financially involved with you in the project. It is not intended to be used by other relatives or friends involved in DIY.
The trade card is and remains the property of the club and you undertake when you leave the club to return any trade cards that you hold.
Your first trade card will be issued to you 6 weeks after applying, or before if you are ready to begin buying for your own build, or become a part of a build group and it is needed urgently. This issuing delay has been designed in at the request of some suppliers who wished to discourage DIY people and others who might realize that joining this club, just so as to get the trade card, would allow them to save a considerable sum of money, as most have projects they would wish to work on faster than this.
The trade card is valid for 6 months or 12 months and issued in the name of one person. It is produced and laminated by us, and includes your photograph and a copy of your signature. Both the photograph and signature image is held by us and printed directly on the cards. A new trade card is issued automatically to you before your current card runs out, as long as your membership is currently up to date, and your membership is not suspended. The first 3 cards you have are valid for 6 months each and after this they are valid for 12 months each. The photograph can be updated on the next issue if you want, but should be done at least every 5 years.
The trade card is used so as to buy materials at trade prices or get other discounts. We will do our best in each area, where projects are being planned, to contact suppliers and others and to let them know about the club and its trade card. Information on the trade card is also featured on the website. In some cases we may circulate information on where you can get discounts using the trade card. The club receives no commission or fee from suppliers connected with this.
All information about members, and club documentation is confidential.
Members should not disclose information to anyone except a person appointed by NAISC or New Atlantis to investigate any situation. Any member who discloses information breaks one of our most important rules that all agree to in that they are doing something that can potentially damage the club, those who run it, the service providers, or members. Such action will result in the member being expelled.
If members are approached by anyone for information, whatever their claimed justification, members have a duty to report it to the clubs audit unit, the email address for this is on the clubs international and most other websites.
With wide scale fraud existing in just about every country, and the UK being no exception, the club pays particular attention to monitoring for fraud. Fraud often has a wedge type of effect, a corrupt official or other, starts by gaining a small amount of information and then seeks to use this to gain more, to get favours, or to do damage to a company or organisation to the benefit of a competitor or some individual, or for trading with others for information or favours. The club does not differentiate between different grades of fraud, or illegal acts, and cannot either be a party to any or further support members who are a party to it.
With the exception of where the club or commissioned service provider is asked to transfer funds for members, the club is not a party to financial dealings, so does not investigate routinely where funds have come from that members are using, this is a duty on banks, solicitors and others who will be a party to transactions. Where the club or a commissioned service provider is moving funds for a member, who does not have New Atlantis trust status, they will expect to be informed of where the funds have come from and to either see evidence to back up the answer, or have a letter from a solicitor confirming that they know the funds to be honestly obtained. Members are advised not to joke about the source of funds, as this may mean that the club or service providers are unable to help you.
It is impossible for the club to differentiate between a corrupt official, a person involved in drugs or money laundering or potential terrorists. All are unacceptable to the club and the club will not be a party to helping them or anyone, including members who have assisted them. The advice of the Independent Inquiry Society, a section of New Atlantis, is that the best way for members to protect themselves and organisations they belong to is to report all contacts, and request for information on projects, deals, members, or the clubs or suggestions of underhand deals, or approaches to sell information, or disclose confidential information to the clubs audit unit. The club has such a unit and within the UK investigative ability commissioned to follow up on this. The audit unit, will also spot check and test out parts of the clubs own organisation and commissioned providers. If a member has any suspicion that any individual working with a commissioned providers is working with someone outside the club system, of they are offered a side or personal deal, then it is the duty of the member to report this to the audit unit, the email address for this is on most of the clubs websites.
In the UK, it is sometimes a case of ‘the end justifies the means’, and you hear such terms as the war on crime and you can’t help collateral damage, when seeking to achieve another target. This on occasion’s means that some police officers and other officials consider that any actions they take, although harmful to others, is acceptable if it helps them in another case or to reach targets. After a while this extends to helping acquaintances, retired officers now in business and informers in exchange for information. Where it has been proven to have occurred, it is covered up, and on occasions the offenders promoted, making it appear acceptable to all other officers and officials. As there is no serious attempt to correct or eradicate this, the club believes it to be quite widespread. The very people, who we all should be able to expect to protect us, are in fact potentially one of the largest risks. The club has seen sufficient evidence of this that in the same way as it warns UK members, against property risks in Spain, we warn other members in other countries about wide scale corruption of officials in Britain. As this is a major risk to us all, members are asked not to disclose any information directly to anyone who approaches them but to refer all enquires to the clubs audit unit, and to immediately email the clubs audit unit of the approach being made to them.
Members are also asked to report to the clubs audit unit, approaches by councillors or others offering planning consent, or offering to act as consultant to obtain consent or to undertake public relations operations with other councillors for a fee. These corrupt people should not be viewed on as doing you a favour but demanding money with menaces. The club may be able to work with you in recording future meetings with them, but most know how to run this extortion without breaching rules, others probably doing the same, will not do anything about it, however the tapes may remove the obstacles from being placed in your way, or you having to make corrupt payments. Again it is a form of corruption that exists and is accepted by people in Britain, and the club is unlikely to be able to do anything about it.
The club accepts that some members will feel the club has paid too much attention to corruption in Britain and site more cases being reported in other countries, however that is often because other countries have a policy of searching it out and prosecuting offenders. As corrupt people live everywhere in roughly equal proportions of the population, the lack of cases of corruption being brought into public view, should be causing alarm bells to ring, not a justification for complacency. The club also perhaps, with its information from the Independent Inquiry Society and Independent Factfinders is more aware of cases identified in Britain than the public at large. These organisations cannot publish the information in Britain as they, like local newspapers, could not afford to defend libel or defamation actions in a court system where costs run into millions. Many of the leading organisations involved in the formation of this club are UK based, including the Property Pension Club and New Atlantis, and the view of all UK parties involved was that any club operating in the UK and involved in planning consent and land for building, should have no offices itself in the UK, maintain records outside the UK, be part only of an international club and be hyper sensitive to the risk of corruption effecting it.
While the club and those who provide services for its members will do their best to check all facts presented, neither the club, its officers, directors or any consultant, commissioned service provider or support company we use is responsible for any oversight or error that occurs.
Information provided on the website should be considered equivalent to that found in a quality magazine or newspaper and may contain some errors or situations may have changed and the information not updated.
In the case of a land purchase or joint project you are joining, individually members need, by whatever means they can, to check all facts presented to them, that they are correct, complete, and that it is relevant to them.
In all projects some errors will be made, but these can be minimised by a number of people taking a look at them as in the case of a group project. If a member thinks something is wrong they should point it out. If expertise is needed beyond that available to them, then they should look to get this independently.
The club and members must accept that the only way not to make mistakes is not to do anything, and the more that is done the larger the number of mistakes that will be made. As the objective is to achieve a lot, the club accepts that some mistakes will occur and has an audit unit that attempts to spot and put right potential problems. By helping, the club members will improve the service they receive, and towards this end the club has a special audit email address where members can report any error or problem that they spot. The club would like members to report all matters that they think may be in error or where a service is not running as well as they would like.
The club does not provide financial advice or investment advice based on individual circumstances, nor does it provide a legal advice service.
The club suggests that all those involved in self build consider the use of the services of a separate project manager. The club does not provide a project management service. Some individuals who go it alone fall out with the builders employed by them, and using the services of a project manager helps eliminate this risk by having a better definition and a person who understands what is, and should be, happening.
In many cases information is based on what we have been told, particularly where plots are offered for sale or land with potential to get planning consent.
The rule is that ultimately it is the members who are responsible for whatever action they take and decisions they make, the clubs role is in identifying, filtering and introducing opportunities to them and assisting them to appraise them, members should never expect the club or commissioned service providers to find out all facts that are not presented to them. If they were to try to do this, too much time would pass and it would be likely that many opportunities would be lost.
The club has tried to present these rules as clear and as much in plain English as possible, with additional explanations where possible, so that members will be able to fully understand them, however this may mean that some parts could be interpreted in other ways than intended. If a member has any questions on interpretation they should ask and the club will do its best to put them straight as to what we intended to have said.
If a member feels some aspect of the rules is not sufficiently detailed or that any aspect of the rules is unfair to members generally, the club asks that members point this out so it can be examined further. If the club needs to consult the membership on redrafting a rule or section of the rules it may put a consultation article within the articles section of the website and seek comments from members.
As a New Atlantis trust any dispute between this club and any other New Atlantis trust, or member can be referred to New Atlantis to arbitrate on, or to recommend a solution. New Atlantis is a non profit corporation registered in the UK, with the principle purpose of improving the quality of peoples lives. It has no connection with any political or religious organisation.
The objectives of the club is to meet its objectives in empowering and assisting members in building their dream homes profitably, not to administer red tape. Rules are necessary so that members understand their obligations and the club has defined its role. The club therefore reserves the right to make exceptions from the general rules where this is in the interest of the membership.
The club reserves the right to change the rules as necessary, providing that the latest set of rules are shown on the clubs website. For rules to be changed the club has to get the agreement of New Atlantis. Where the club feels that the change in the rules is substantial we will also do our best to draw it to the attention of members.
This version of the rules became effective as at October 1st 2004, since that only minor spelling and similar corrections have been made
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Self Build Homes Club is an international club
and trading title of Self
Build Homes Club llc. Local services
to serve members are commissioned for the club by New
Atlantis International Services Corporation.
All major commissioned companies involved, have New Atlantis trust status.