Affordable Housing SPD

6 Design and Quality

Design and Quality

6.1 To ensure a high standard of design and to create balanced communities, the Council will expect affordable housing for rent to:

• Be built to the Housing Corporation Design and Quality standards current at the time of building (these incorporate the DCLG’s Code for Sustainable Homes), unless there are exceptional circumstances identified by the RSL partner that justify a variation.
• Be well related to, and indistinguishable from, the market housing on site;
• On larger sites the affordable housing will be distributed across a number of different areas around the site (though, on occasion it may be prudent to group the housing in order to assist its management); and
• Meet the design briefs of Registered Social Landlords and Council planning policies on design.

6.2 Policies relating to privacy levels, open space standards, design and materials remain relevant when considering affordable housing. PPS3 requires integration of the affordable housing with the general market housing and visual consistency is therefore important. Car ownership rates are generally lower for the occupants of affordable housing than for those of general market housing allowing the Council's car parking standards to be applied flexibly to affordable housing schemes. Policy T18 of the RCUDP does make provision for such flexibility.

6.3 The Council's overall aim of increasing the number of Lifetime Homes within the housing stock of the district as set out in Policy H15 (Lifetime Homes) of the RCUDP requires a number of the affordable dwellings within each development to be built to the Lifetime Homes Standard. This  requirement wil be implemented having regard to the number of dwellings to be provided on the site and any physical constraints making it impossible to achieve this standard.

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