Delivering High Quality Environments Through Design
The Government has published a ‘National Design Guide’ following announcement at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester. The Housing Secretary, Robert Jenrick, is the drive behind the new Design Guide, expressing, “I am replacing the existing vague and outdated guidance with a brand-new national design guide. It will be produced with a more ambitious and firmer vision for better designed homes”.
The Governments vision of the Design Guide is to help create places that look beautiful, work well and provide environments in which people and communities can thrive. This will be delivered through ten characteristics denoted within the Design Guide which Mr Jenrick states ‘this provides a clear picture for home builders of what is required of them to build homes of sufficient quality’.
The National Planning Policy Framework, which sets the foundation for planning policies at a national and local level, emphasises high quality design for proposed developments. The National Planning Policy Framework also clearly states that local planning authorities are expected to use design codes and guides to provide as much certainty as possible about what is likely to be acceptable in each area. Therefore, local authorities will be expected to design their own local design guides in line with national standard and in the absence of local design guidance, local planning authorities would have to default to the National Design Guide.
The Design Guide is therefore a material consideration in planning applications and appeals, meaning that, where relevant, local planning authorities will take it into account when making decisions. Developers will therefore also have to be mindful of National and Local Design Guides to ensure at the design stage the proposal incorporate design features that are in line with the aforementioned plans otherwise local authorities may refuse the development on poor design.
The Housing Secretary has also mentioned that “to provide further clarity on the principles of good design, we will produce a National Model Design Code in the new year which will set out recommended parameters for key elements of successful design. This will follow the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission’s final report due to be published in December”.
Therefore, local planning authorities and developers would need to take into consideration the National Deign Guide and the National Model Design Code, following its publication.
Ernest View’s planning team has over 10 years’ experience in gaining planning permission and promoting development sites through the local plan process. The planning team will be happy to provide you with a free consultation on your proposed development to ensure it meets current design guide standards and provide a strategy on achieving the best outcome. So contact us today for your free planning consultation.
