A presentation on the changes to the London plan as a result of England's new technical housing standards.

1. MINOR ALTERATIONS TO THE
LONDON PLAN
HOUSING STANDARDS
Jennifer Peters- Strategic Planning Manager

2. CONTEXT
London Plan March 2015 (FALP) para 0.16F
“…as a result of changes proposed in the Government’s
Housing Standards Review, the Mayor will bring forward
additional alterations to the London Plan in early 2015
to reflect Government housing standards.”
MINOR ALTERATIONS TO THE LONDON PLAN
HOUSING STANDARDS

3. The housing standards review was
launched in October 2012.
The rationale:
•Reduce the burden on new housing
developments by simplifying and rationalising
the large number of standards that local
authorities apply to new homes; and
» Ensure that new homes are of
high quality, accessible and
sustainable.
HOUSING STANDARDS REVIEW
BACKGROUND

4. • Following consultation on the technical
standards - on 25th
of March 2015 Government
issued;
• A ministerial statement- new national approach
to the setting of standards,
• Associated Approved Documents (water and
access), and
• Nationally Described Space Standards.
Together these are known as the new national
technical standards.
BACKGROUND CONT.

5. The London Plan has included space standards
since 2011 and accessibility standards since
2004.
The Mayor worked closely with Government to
ensure that, as far as possible, national
standards reflected the needs of Londoners.
BACKGROUND CONT.

6. • The Government’s ‘optional’ standards (access,
water and the nationally described space
standards) need to be adopted through planning
policy to be applied.
• The London Plan is part of borough’s
development plan.
• If they are not adopted – no space standards
and only basic building regulations will apply.
- However, transition arrangements are in place
where standards are already in adopted Plans
IMPLEMENTATION

7. From October 2015 existing standards relating to
access, space and water have to be interpreted
by reference to the nearest equivalent national
standards.
To aid implementation the Mayor has published a
Housing Standards Policy Transition Statement
which sets out how existing London housing
standards should be applied from October 2015
until such time that the Government’s housing
standards are adopted.
TRANSITION

8. • This helps applicants know what standards they
need to meet in applications submitted now
where they are unlikely to be decided before
October.
• Reserved matters applications?
TRANSITION - CONT

9. The NPPG states;
•authorities will need to gather evidence to determine
whether there is a need for additional standards in their
area; and
•authorities should consider the impact of using the
standards as part of their local plan viability assessment.
Evidence on need and viability has been
published alongside the alteration.
NEED AND VIABILITY

10. Need study “demonstrates a clear need for the
inclusion of housing standards within the London
Plan. They are a necessary mechanism to ensure
that housing is sustainable and of high quality whilst
offering the space and flexibility required to
accommodate the demands of a rapidly growing and
aging population in a high density city facing distinct
climate challenges”
Viability -“overall outcomes of the viability testing
indicate that the introduction of the new housing
standards do not represent a significant determinant
in the viability and delivery of housing development
in london”.
EVIDENCE

11. POLICY 3.5 QUALITY AND DESIGN OF
HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS
Policy 3.5 is updated to
reference the new
optional building
regulations for access
and water efficiency
and the nationally
described space
standards.

12. Difference to current London
Plan;
•GIAs for some houses
smaller.
•Ceiling height minimum
lower.
MALP adopts the nationally
described space standards
but ‘strongly encourages’ a
minimum ceiling height of
2.5m for at least 75% of the
dwelling.
NATIONALLY DESCRIBED
SPACE STANDARDS
Number
of
bedrooms
Number
of bed
spaces
Minimum GIA (m2
) Built-in
storage
(m2
)
1 storey
dwellings
2 storey
dwellings
3 storey
dwellings
1b 1p 39 (37)* 1.0
2p 50 58 1.5
2b 3p 61 70 2.0
4p 70 79
3b 4p 74 84 90 2.5
5p 86 93 99
6p 95 102 108
4b 5p 90 97 103 3.0
6p 99 106 112
7p 108 115 121
8p 117 124 130
5b 6p 103 110 116 3.5
7p 112 119 125
8p 121 128 134
6b 7p 116 123 129 4.0
8p 125 132 138

13. Approved Document Part M – Domestic
Three Categories-
•M4 (1)-Category 1: Visitable dwellings [basic]
•M4 (2) -Category 2: Accessible and adaptable
dwellings [optional]
•M4 (3)-Category 3: Wheelchair user dwellings
[optional]
- Wheelchair accessible
- Wheelchair adaptable
-ONLY ONE M4 regulation can apply to a
dwelling.
ACCESS – ‘OPTIONAL’ STANDARDS

14. Access- updated to reflect optional building regs-
but essentially keeping our current approach.
•90% of new housing required to meet Building
regulation M4 (2) ‘accessible and adaptable
dwellings’
•10% of new homes required to meet Building
regulation requirement M4 (3) ‘wheelchair user
dwellings’.
-M4(2) requires step free access
- Viability impact
- Impact on service charges
POLICY 3.8 CHOICE

15. Current London Plan approach considered to be
inline with the national approach and will help
ensure continued investment in low carbon energy
technologies in London.
Figures recalibrated to reflect 2013 Building
Regulations.
POLICY 5.2 MINIMISING
CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSION

16. Introduces stepping stone
target to zero carbon for
non-residential
development.
Evidence -Feasibility and
viability study.
Introduces the Mayor’s
preferred approach to
‘allowable solutions’ – from
2016.
These changes are not related to the housing
standards review.
POLICY 5.2 CONT.

17. • Implication of the Government’s removal of the
2016 zero carbon homes target?
FIXING THE FOUNDATIONS

18. Policy 5.3 Sustainable Design and Construction
•Policy and supporting paragraphs updated to
remove reference to Code for Sustainable Homes.
Policy 5.15 Water use and Supplies
•Policy updated by footnote to align the water
consumption with the optional Building
Regulations.
OTHER CHANGES

19. Integrated impact assessment (IIA)
•Overall the proposed Minor Alterations will have
a positive effect especially on social and
environmental objectives
IMPACT ASSESSMENT

20. • Scheduled for October
• Range of consultation responses
• Draft Matters on our website – broad range of
questions – including;
• Paragraph 3.32A refers to the standards being sound ‘in
terms of need and viability’. Is the evidence in the
documents entitled ‘Viability Assessment’ and ‘Evidence
of Need’ sufficiently robust? And
• f. Are paragraph 3.36 and Table 3.3 sufficiently
aspirational?
EIP

21. HOUSING STANDARDS MINOR ALTERATIONS
questions
MINOR ALTERATIONS TO THE LONDON PLAN
HOUSING STANDARDS