Press Release

No more 'hobbit homes' in London, says Mayor
8-7-2009   361

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, today published guidance on the design of all new publicly funded homes built in the capital from 2011. The guidance sets new minimum standards to meet his commitment to improve the quality of new homes and consequently the quality of life for Londoners.

The Mayor launched the London Housing Design Guide, for consultation, in Croydon, at a conference organised to discuss his London Housing Strategy, published in May. The guide sets out six key areas of design that new developments will have to address, including:

- focusing on the spaces between and around buildings so that developments integrate with the wider public realm
- ensuring a mix of housing sizes, types and tenures at a range of densities for the diverse needs of Londoners
- better design of entrances and shared circulation areas, with measures to design out crime at the outset of a development, as well as car parking and cycle and waste  storage 
- new minimum internal space standards including guidance on the size and layout of different rooms to ensure greater flexibility of space in the home - the minimum space standards recommended are broadly ten per cent higher than the 1961 Parker Morris benchmark
- making homes more comfortable places to live and enjoy by making them quieter, lighter and better ventilated
- ensuring homes are designed to meet climate change and are suitable for warmer summers and wetter winters

The new guide also consolidates existing design standards to reduce the burden on housing developers, cutting the number of requirements they must refer to from over 300 to 90, as well as on the public purse, and could eventually be applied to private sector homes once incorporated as policy in the revised London Plan.

After addressing the conference the Mayor visited Sumner Gardens in Croydon, a development of thirteen publicly funded large family sized homes. Sumner Gardens is jointly financed by Croydon Council and the GLA and incorporates many of the principles of the Mayor’s Design Guide. During his visit the Mayor handed over the keys of a new home from the scheme to a family of seven who were previously living in a three bedroom flat. The Mayor wants to reward boroughs, like Croydon, that are meeting the Mayor’s key housing priorities, by giving them a greater say over the new homes that are built in their local area.

The Mayor said:
“For too long we have built homes to indecently poor standards - fit neither for Bilbo Baggins nor his hobbit friends - and that is indefensible. The finest city in the world deserves the finest housing for its inhabitants and when we get it wrong it can scar generation after generation.

“Today marks the start of reversing that downward trend and raising the bar, not just in publicly funded, but all new homes built in London. I want design excellence to become the first priority of any plans for new homes and innovation, in the best tradition of this unique city, to be at the forefront of that design.”

President of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Sunand Prasad said:
"There is no reason why every one of London’s future homes should not achieve a decent standard of design or better. Following the principles and measures outlined in this guide will be a sure way to ensure good quality in all developments and to encourage world class design from the most ambitious and talented developers, their designers and their builders."

English Heritage Commissioner, Joyce Bridges said:
"The Mayor's new guidance sets the standards necessary to achieve better designed, good quality homes fit for the future. I welcome the emphasis on new buildings being sensitive to place and context."

Notes to editors

1. The London Housing Strategy consultation conference, held at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon, was attended by 250 key London housing stakeholders. It was jointly sponsored by the Homes and Communities Agency with keynote speeches on regional and national housing policy from the Mayor and from Grant Shapps MP, Shadow Housing Minister.

2. On 21 May 2009, the Mayor published the public consultation draft of the London Housing Strategy. Statutory public consultation on the draft London Housing Strategy will run until 31 August 2009. Following this, the draft will then be revised – with the final statutory strategy published later this year, following submission to the Secretary of State. In line with the GLA Act 2007, he consulted the Assembly and functional bodies on an earlier draft (launched in November 2008) and has made a formal response to the Assembly on its submission. Consultation on the draft London Housing Design Guide will run until 30 September 2009. The new London Plan will be out for public consultation in the autumn.

The Guide will apply to new affordable homes funded from April 2011.

3. The draft London Housing Design Guide and the draft London Housing Strategy can be downloaded from http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/publications/2009/07/housing-design.jsp and http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/housing/strategy/index.jsp 

Ends

Notes to Editors

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