King’s charity proposes Poundbury-style approach to housebuilding

King Charles’ charity has launched an series of regional forums to encourage housebuilders to deliver Poundbury-style communities across the UK.

The King’s Foundation and the University of the Built Environment will introduce 14 regional forums under the partnership’s Regional Building Foundation (RBF). The initiative has a vision to create “walkable, characterful neighbourhoods, delivered in line with place building principles.”

These forums will bring together key members involved in the housebuilding process, including builders, landowners, material suppliers, lenders, planners and designers, to work within a “regionally defined, collaborative framework” by sharing knowledge and research.

The RBF aims to move away from zonal estate models of housing delivery towards “regionally distinctive” developments.

Practitioners are being invited to register with the foundation to gain access to the forums as well as the ‘Knowledge Hub’ with bespoke research and a network of built environment experts.

Ben Bolgar, executive director for projects at The King’s Foundation, said: “We are at risk of accepting the status quo of zoning, where we build isolated business parks, retail areas, schools and housing estates that are not integrated into our communities. The stakes are extremely high, especially for the next generation of homeowners.”

He added that prioritising sustainability and green space should be a key focus when developing new housing schemes.

A report by the RBF, published in May this year, proposed a regional system of placemaking, using the Duchy of Cornwall’s Poundbury and Nansleden projects as examples of developments that were “financially viable and practical to deliver.”

While they have their advocates, the style of urbanism adopted in Poundbury and Nansleden are not universally popular within the sector, with critic Stephen Bayley describing the former - an experimental urban extension on the outskirts of Dorset - as “fake, heartless, authoritarian and grimly cute.”

Residents of the communities are expected to abide by strict rules around alterations to the exterior of their homes and personal conduct.

The RBF is the result of a government-backed, two-year “knowledge transfer partnership” between The King’s Foundation and the University of the Built Environment.

Over the next 12-18 months, all 14 regional forums will be launched, starting with the Hampshire Basin in September 2026, followed by London and the Thames Valley and then Northern England.

Each forum will draw on the king’s lord-lieutenant network of representatives to convene its members.