Last week saw the second meeting of the NLA Expert Panel on Housing. The group undertook a review of the Mayor’s ‘Good Quality Homes for All Londoners’ SPG which is currently published in draft format for consultation. 

The document is split into four modules:

Module A: Optimising Site Capacity – A Design-led Approach

Module B:  Small Housing Developments – Assessing Quality and Preparing Design Codes

Module C:  Module C – Housing Design – Quality and Standards

Module D:  Housing Design – Case Studies and Appendices

Whilst the panel was supportive of the intentions of this guidance, certain recurring concerns emerged across all modules; Some relating specifically to the content and some to the delivery and structure of the report.  

Considering content first, the most significant omission is due to the timing of the draft publication of this document in the fourth quarter of 2020.  The authors could not possibly have predicted the worldwide events of 2020 which unfortunately leave the final document feeling outdated even before adoption.  The shifts in the way we live, the way we work and the way we travel around the city need to be acknowledged and addressed; many of these changing patterns are likely to last far beyond the duration of the pandemic and will effect fundamental change on the priorities and needs of individuals which in turn will change the nature of where and how people aspire to live.  The report must be revised to address these facts to remain relevant.

The second significant discussion around content centred on the report’s approach to sustainability.  The panel considered it disappointing that sustainability was once again seen as an ‘add-on’ to design.  This guidance is an opportunity to re-align priorities – putting sustainable design strategies at the centre of all future residential and mixed-use development in the capital.  London is in the midst of a housing crisis but the world is in the midst of a climate crisis.  We cannot afford to focus on one at the expense of the other.

In terms of delivery, there was a consensus that the guidance was overly long and weighty.  Many of the sections would benefit from a significant reduction in text and in places an increase in diagrams and illustrative material.   

Certain modules – A and B in particular – were found to be overly proscriptive whilst lacking the necessary ambition.  Conversely, the primary criticism levelled at Module D was a lack of depth and breadth to the selection and explanation of case studies.  The repetitive format and space allowance in the document for each case study particularly impacted the level of detail provided on the larger high-density schemes.  This is problematic at a time when developers and local authorities alike are increasingly looking to meet housing need through higher-rise and higher density development.

Module C seemed particularly out of step with current debate – with many passages within the guidance apparently lifted verbatim from The London Housing Design Guide - which is now of course, a decade old. At the time of its publication (and for many years since) the LHDG was a highly influential, forward-looking and ambitious document that helped to significantly raise the standards of housing across the capital.  If the new guidance is to emulate the clarity and ambition of the LHDG, it needs to consider where housing should be in ten or twenty years time, and what actions we need to take now to get there.

In conclusion it would seem there needs to be a re-examination of the core aims of this guidance and a re-focussing following the developments of 2020.  This document should be setting out a strategy to guide development in the capital for the next fifty years and ensuring it is of the highest possible standards; it should be both ambitious and clear in intention – leaving no room for unnecessary ambiguity or compromise.

As a follow up to the discussion the panel will be submitting a formal consultation response to the GLA’s survey regarding the guidance and would welcome the opportunity to review the document in greater detail with the GLA at a later date.

View the full Expert Panel on Housing here.