Housing Design

As well as housing numbers, the design of housing makes a huge difference to its impact on a community. Too much of the new housing in the East Midlands is bland, poorly designed and of low environmental standard. 

In a 2007 Housing Audit to assess the design quality of new housing, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) found:

•  England: 18% new housing development deemed ‘good' or ‘very good'
•  East Midlands: only 1 development out of 34 ‘very good', 0 ‘good', more than 50% poor
•  East Midlands was the poorest performing region in England

However, it needn't be this way. There are excellent examples of good design throughout the region. 

The Regional Plan had a policy on promoting better design which needs to be properly integrated into Local Development Frameworks and implemented at a local level. The Regional Plan was revoked by government in June 2010. It is not clear how design standards will be driven up in the absence of the Regional Plan policies.

CPRE 2010

The emerging findings of an Innovation & Growth Team (IGT), drawn from the construction industry and from Government, charged by the Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills with considering how the UK construction industry can rise to the challenge of the low carbon agenda, and with making recommendations to Government and to industry, are now available to read. Download the 59-page report as a PDF from the bottom of this page.

Fiona Cowan
3 April 2010

Downloads:
Low Carbon Construction - government report
 (1,726 Kb)