A new rulebook has been published for councils and developers to create healthier and more sustainable homes
The updated new build housing design focuses on quality, value, and resilience to climate change, as well as ensuring good connections to local shops and services.
This sets a new benchmark and will affect how the next generation of new neighbourhoods is developed.
The guidance is for councils and developers alike
The documents prioritise some other aspects besides net-zero and climate resilience, including work-from-home spaces, flexible layouts, space for families to grow and adapt, calm streets, less traffic, improved green spaces, adequate shade, and minimised risk of floods.
This is the second version of this guidance, and has more of a focus on smaller developers as they continue the push to achieve the government’s 1.5m new homes target.
The new build housing design guidance also supports recent proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework.
Housing and planning minister, Matthew Pennycook, said: “Exemplary development should be the norm not the exception so that more communities feel the benefits of new development and welcome it.
“As we act to boost housing supply, we are also taking steps to improve the design and quality of the homes and neighbourhoods being built.
“These standards will help ensure new homes and neighbourhoods are attractive, well-connected, sustainable, and built to last.”
Most new build infrastructure is not adopted by public bodies
Research from the Home Builders Federation (HBF) in October last year found that the majority of infrastructure built with new build houses, including roads, sewers, and drainage systems, are not adopted by public bodies or local authorities.
This means that they remain privately managed, with costs often being shifted onto the homeowners via maintenance charges or bills.
The research found that just 10% of new build infrastructure created in the last decade had been adopted by local authorities. 97% of sewers and 98% of sustainable drainage systems remain unadopted, and a third of surveyed councils had not adopted any new roads at all.
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