Proposed bill would see new homes enhancing residents’ health, says Town & Country Planning Association
The Town & Country Planning Association has launched a draft bill to force developers to build homes that benefit the health of the people that live in them.
The TCPA’s draft Healthy Homes bill outlines 10 principles which it said defined what constituted a healthy home, including safety from the risk of fire, adequate space and natural light and having walkable access to green space that is open to all.
Speaking at the launch of the draft act in the House of Commons, TCPA chief executive Fiona Howie said there was a need for primary legislation to drive the transformation of homes being built across the country.
“We need change similar to that brought about by the Addison Act [which effectively established social housing 100 years ago].”
Howie said there was plenty of cross-party rhetoric supporting the idea of better-quality housing, not least in the form of the government-backed Building Better, Building Beautiful commission, but that words needed to be converted into action.
“Tweaking the Building Regulations is not enough. We should stop bad homes being built in the first place,” she added.
The TCPA said the proposed bill was a response to evidence detailed in the Raynsford Review of Planning “that the places we are currently building damage peoples’ life chances”.
The draft act included a new duty on local planning authorities to take steps to properly plan to meet housing needs in their area through local development plans, with a specific reference to the need to plan for affordable housing.
The TCPA said this duty would strengthen the hand of local authorities looking to deliver more affordable homes.
The association also highlighted how permitted development rights were responsible for the creation of very poor-quality housing and virtually no affordable homes.
Fewer than 30% of the 16,000 homes delivered through permitted development since 2013 met national space standards, the TCPA said, highlighting a report by London Assembly member Tom Copley which found that one home in Croydon, south London, was just 10m².
The 10 principles set out in the draft Healthy Homes Bill are that all new homes must:
1. be safe in relation to the risk of fire
2. have adequate living space
3. have access to natural light
4. be accessible and the environment that the homes are in should be accessible and safe places
5. be within walkable neighbourhoods
6. secure radical reductions in carbon emissions in line with the provisions of the Climate Change Act 2008
7. have walkable access to green and play space that is open to everyone
8. resilient to a changing climate
9. be secure and meet designing out crime standards
10. meet enhanced standards to prevent unacceptable noise pollution.
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