ROOF Blog

A consultation on future core housing design and sustainability standards has been published by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). It aims to stimulate a debate on how to prioritise the quality of new housing in a challenging financial climate. It seeks views on a series of options for how the national housing and regeneration agency might design and phase in new standards and apply them to its programme. Partners and other interested parties are asked to comment on the proposals and help shape further development of the HCA’s core design and sustainability standards.

The latest generation of pod-like homes is hoping to inspire anyone concerned with sustainability and affordability and is now being touted as the newest solution to Britain’s housing shortage. Modular housing is common in Australia, the USA and Germany, but British examples have mainly been limited to one-off, self-build projects. More recently though, organisations such as the Peabody Trust have commissioned several large modular developments such as London’s Murray Grove and Baron’s Place. As well as preserving communities, flexible living negates moving costs and mortgages are available thanks to approval from National House-Building Council and CLG’s Code for Sustainable Homes scheme.

The Conservative party has finally published its long awaited planning green paper which includes proposing the scrapping of centrally-set housing targets and replacing them with a system of financial incentives for local councils to build. As expected, the green paper also includes introducing a presumption in favour of sustainable development at the base of the system, whilst giving neighbours the right to force the council to review a planning application. However the Tories said they will limit the right of residents or developers to appeal planning decisions once the decision has been taken, and will replace the planned introduction of the Community Infrastructure Levy with a ‘tariff’.

The government risks repeating the mistakes of the postwar housing boom by wasting hundreds of millions of pounds on funding ‘grotty’ new homes, say MPs. The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), which has an annual investment budget of more than £5bn, has admitted that 27 of the private-sector projects it has bailed out scored five or less out of 20 on the industry’s Building for Life benchmark, with two scoring just 1.5. Homes failed on a range of basic measures, including poor space standards and over-reliance on single-aspect dwellings; inflexibility; low sustainability standards; and poor compatibility with neighbouring properties.

The importance of social housing’s ‘heartlanders’ and their activism has been revealed in a report that says the most prominent group of social housing tenants are highly active in their neighbourhoods and play a crucial role in bonding communities. David Eastgate, Hyde Group chief executive, said: ‘Heartlanders are the glue of local communities and in many instances play a more active role than homeowners. They take on the responsibility to deliver regeneration and ensure sustainability.’ The report makes a number of policy recommendations to unlock the potential of those living in social housing.

Nine new locations have been given permission to proceed with developing plans for new settlements which meet environmentally-friendly standards, and will receive a share of £5 million in Government funds.

To qualify to become an eco-town a development must have 5,000 homes, at least 30 per cent of which should be affordable for those on low incomes, and contain low-carbon services, buildings, transport and energy.

Shoreham Harbour and a second site in Northstowe, Cambridge, have already begun development and will be redesigned to meet higher levels of sustainability.

Five more local authorities are seeking to set up potential eco-towns across 10 locations.