Government must not sacrifice quality in drive to build 1.5 million homes, say MPs

The 'Proud to call home' report sets out measures to raise standards in housebuilding and placemaking.

A cross-party group of MPs, chaired by Mike Reader MP, has warned the Government risks squandering a "once-in-a-generation opportunity" if it fails to safeguard the quality of new homes and neighbourhoods as it pursues its target of delivering 1.5 million homes.

In its new report, 'Proud to call home', the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Excellence in the Built Environment (APPGEBE), sets out recommendations for Government and industry to raise standards in the design and construction of new homes, as well as in the aftercare and experience residents receive once they have moved in.

The report says that while Government planning guidance states new homes and neighbourhoods should promote wellbeing and sustainability (underscored in its recently published Design and Placemaking Planning Practice Guidance), this is not consistently reflected in practice.

Proud to call home states: "Local authorities and Government need to consider how to give more weight to design guidance promoting high quality placemaking."

Key recommendations in the report include:

• Making design reviews mandatory in the planning process for developments of more than 250 homes and for strategically important or historic sites
• Requiring local authorities to appoint a chief planning officer at cabinet level to help drive quality in local plans and in negotiations with developers as they come under pressure to meet new housing targets
• Improving placemaking by considering legislative options to ensure developer contributions, such as Section 106 funding, are spent by local authorities for their agreed purpose, including monies ring-fenced for green spaces, and within agreed timescales under a 'use it or lose it' approach
• Driving up build quality and consumer confidence by setting a minimum number of inspections by building inspectors and warranty providers during construction
• Mandating a 'soft landings' approach and greater post-occupancy evaluation of energy performance in new homes to help close the performance gap and ensure homeowners get the best from their systems
• Improving consumer protection by mandating housebuilder participation in a single consumer code and registration with the New Homes Quality Board (NHQB) and New Homes Ombudsman. Currently, only half of new homes are covered.

Mike Reader MP for Northampton South, Chair of the group and its commission of inquiry said: "The 1.5 million homes this Government has pledged can be a legacy of which future generations are proud. That will only happen if quality is woven through every decision, in policy, planning, design, and delivery.

"This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape not just how many homes we build, but how well we build them.  We must seize this opportunity and build homes and places people will want to live. Places where people are proud to call home."

Graham Watts OBE, Chief Executive of the Construction Industry Council, and Secretary of the to the APPGEBE, said: "This report aims to advance all aspects of housebuilding quality - and to set out practical solutions that will help deliver the homes we need, at the standard the public deserves. The CIC is proud to support this important work."

A copy of the report can be downloaded here.