Intended to help the housebuilding industry deliver the objectives of PPG3, the new guidance not surprisingly promotes high density and many of the principles of urban design and does not present new policy. But it does drive home the government's desire to banish the building of homogeneous estates and sets out new design parameters for the industry by defining what it calls "the attributes of successful housing".
The guide recognises that responsibility for unsustainable communities cannot be attributed to housebuilders alone. "Underlying many of these shortcomings is a combination of local authority planning and highway design standards," it says.
"These have helped give impetus to the palette of standard housetypes and layout forms which have been developed to meet these requirements. The result has been residential environments that meet these standards but lack any real quality or distinctive sense of place."
In all 14 attributes of successful housing are identified, which are:
- a movement framework of roads and paths that is safe, direct and attractive
- a mix of housing
- Q a sense of community
- a coherent structure of buildings, spaces, landscape and routes
- appropriate street layout and design
- attractive and clearly defined public and private spaces
- nice gardens and private amenity space
- convenient but unobtrusive car parking
- a safe and secure environment
- well planned homes
- housing which is robust and adaptable
- an environment which can be well maintained in the long term
- design to minimise use of resources
- well considered detailing.
The guide, Better places to live, is intended to complement the government's first companion guide to PPG3, By design, published last year. Better places to live, which was drawn up by architect and planner Llewelyn Davies, is published this month by DTLR and the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment.
Source
Building Homes