NLA Expert Panel on Housing, chaired by Jo McCafferty, Director at Levitt Bernstein, have submitted a comprehensive and thoughtful response to the ‘Good Quality Homes for all Londoners’ SPG survey today. 

 

The purpose of the guidance is to support the policies in the Intend to Publish London Plan, on housing design, optimising site capacity at all scales and enabling housing supply through smaller housing developments, with the wider purpose of supporting Good Growth.

 

A selection of the panel’s key recommendations are: 

 

The guidance, drafted before the pandemic, needs to ensure that there is space for innovation and adaption to future shifts in lifestyle, with living and working patterns likely to change for many Londoners in the wake of COVID-19 and the associated accelerated socio-economic trends.

 

Sustainability needs to be at the core of all guidance, if there is to be widespread adoption of more sustainable design and delivery practices, it should be the fundamental starting point for new housing. 

The specificity of small sites needs to be considered and calls for policy that supports the design, development and delivery of these intricate sites with specific advice is supported, but this must allow flexibility in the mix of uses and favour high-quality, innovative site-specific solutions. The opportunity for design guidance for larger, more complex sites should also be grasped, as this is often where the challenges in protecting quality lie.

 

Following the submission of the detailed and passionate response to the survey, we will be connecting members of the Expert Panel to the GLA in order to support the redrafting of the guidance going forwards. 

 

To view the NLA Expert Panel on Housing full response, please see the pdf here.