Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how all future housing, including low cost housing, can be designed to be aesthetically attractive, sensitive to the character of where it is situated and free from easy stigmatisation as the homes of the socially less affluent; and what action they are taking in this regard.

The Government attaches great importance to the design of the built environment. We are encouraging well-designed housing through strong messages in our National Planning Policy Framework and Practice Guidance and through a range of programmes, including Estates Regeneration and garden villages, towns and cities. In addition, the Homes and Communities Agency has published a number of guidance documents around design and sustainability providing practical, delivery related knowledge, research findings and good practice

The Framework is clear that permission should be refused for development of poor design, that significant weight should be attached to truly outstanding or innovative designs and that local planning authorities should have local design review arrangements in place to provide assessment and support to ensure high standards of design.

We want to ensure that communities can influence the design of what gets built in their area. As set out in our Housing White Paper, we propose to amend the National Planning Policy Framework to increase the emphasis on design and community engagement in local and neighbourhood plans and other development plan documents so that more certainty is given on design. This will include strengthening the importance of early pre-application discussions about design and the types of homes to be provided and recognising the value of using a widely accepted design standard, such as Building for Life, in shaping and assessing basic design principles. We will also make further funding available to neighbourhood planning groups from 2018-2021 so they can access support they might need including for better design and provide new funding to boost the capacity and capability of local authorities. We are also planning to diversify the market to encourage wider use of custom build which enables homebuyers to be directly involved in the design of their new home.