Housing standards:

evidence and research

Mapping existing
housing standards

A report prepared by Richards Partington

Architects for CABE in May 2010.
Richards Partington Architects
First Floor
Fergusson House
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London EC1V 2NJ
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Contents :

Introduction 1

Code for Sustainable Homes 2

Lifetime Homes 5

Secure by Design 7

Building for Life 8

Building Regulations Approved Documents 11

Summary Diagram 12

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Introduction

This short mapping exercise intends to set out simply the wider context of existing standards
that new homes in England must conform to. It reviews: the Code for Sustainable Homes,
Lifetime Homes, Secure by Design, Building for Life and the Building Regulations Approved
Documents.

This report was commissioned by CABE and carried out by Richard Partington Architects. It is
a useful background document outlining the origins and coverage of existing standards. It is
not comprehensive in its considerations, but useful to inform CABE and others thinking on the
interrelationship of different standards currently in use.

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Code for Sustainable Homes

The Purpose of the Standard

The aim of the Code is to improve the overall sustainability of new homes by setting a single
national sustainability standard for England, Wales and Northern Ireland within which the home
building industry can design and construct homes to higher environmental standards, and give
new homebuyers better information about the environmental impact of their new home and its
potential running costs.

The Code uses a sustainability rating system indicated by stars to communicate the overall
sustainability performance of a home and it considers issues such as the embodied energy of
materials that exceed the scope of the Building Regulations. A home can achieve a
sustainability rating from one ( ) to six ( ) stars depending on the extent to which it
has achieved Code standards. One star is the entry level and six stars is the highest level
reflecting exemplar development in sustainability terms. The structure of the Code and the
weighting of environmental impacts assessed within it is derived from the Building Research
Establishments (BRE) Ecohomes scheme.

Policy Weighting

The Code is a voluntary standard with flexibility for developers to determine the most cost-
effective mix of issues to cover to achieve any particular level, subject to a limited number of
mandatory requirements. However, it is also used as a condition of funding for the Homes and
Communities Agencys National Affordable Housing Programme, on other government projects
and land, and by local authorities when they want to set sustainability-based planning
conditions on housing developments in their area.

The Code assessment scheme is administered by registered assessors licensed by the

Building Research Establishment. The Code is not a statutory standard but the Energy and
C02 Emissions category use a method for calculating energy performance that is mirrored in
the Building Regulations. A Code assessed house must comply with the Building Regulations
as well so there is duplication in certain respects. The calculation methodology for establishing
emissions performance, the Standard Assessment Procedure, known as SAP, is common to
both the Code and Building Regulations Part L (Conservation of Fuel and Power) but in
operation and compliance the Building Regulations are entirely independent of the Code. The
assessment procedures are the same for energy and emissions performance in order that a
mixed development of publicly funded housing and private housing is assessed with the same
SAP methodology. Some confusion has arisen over this relationship and this is compounded
by the tendency to consult on changes to the Code and the Building Regulations
simultaneously.

Essentially the Code is a means for demonstrating sustainable design that exceeds Statutory
Standards in both scope and target performance.

Spatial Scale of Implementation

The Code measures the sustainability of a home against nine design categories, rating the
whole home as a complete package. Within each design category there are a series of issues
that are scored individually to attain credits. A minimum level of performance is necessary in
mandatory categories (Energy and Water, for instance). Other categories or issues are non
mandatory and are described as tradable. The abbreviations for each issue are shown in
brackets:

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 Energy and CO2 Emissions (Ene 1-8)
Water (Wat 1-2)
Materials (Mat 1-2)
Surface Water Run-off (Sur 1)
Waste (Was 1-3)
Pollution (Pol 1-2)
Heath and Wellbeing (Hea 1- 4)
Management (Man 1-4)
Ecology (1-4)

In general the requirements of the Code relate to the detailed design of developments and do
not address larger scale issues such as site selection, urban design, layout, amenities
provision and infrastructure.

History of the Standard

The Code was introduced in 2006/7 and replaced the BREs EcoHomes standard. EcoHomes
was introduced in 2000 and used a rating system of Pass, Good, Very Good or Excellent to
grade the sustainability of new homes. A significant criticism of EcoHomes concerned the
trading-off between areas of the standards, so that, for example, homes with poor energy
efficiency standards could still receive a high designation. Like the Code, EcoHomes was a
voluntary standard that became mandatory for projects funded by the (then) Housing
Corporation and English Partnerships, or where required by local planning policies.

EcoHomes itself had its origins in the earlier BREEAM Version 3/91 (New Homes) of 1991 and
its 1995 revision the Environmental Standard: Homes for a Greener World. This was the third
standard created by the BRE under its BREEAM methodology and delivered a simple Pass or
Fail result with a minimum level of performance under each area of the standard.

Impact on Housing Design

Energy and emissions The Code energy and emissions criterias current influence over
housing design and space standards is an indirect one. However, the proposed changes in
energy policy, particularly the introduction of the Fabric Energy Efficiency Standard (FEES), will
be reflected in revisions to the Code. The Fabric Energy Efficiency Standard is the first plank
of the Governments definition of zero carbon within what is known as the energy hierarchy. It
recognises that in new building we should first focus on saving energy or demand reduction,
by improving insulation and thermal performance, before adopting low and zero carbon
technologies. As a result, the Code will exert a stronger influence over dwelling form and
position. Detached houses will require better performing fabric, while larger homes, regardless
of type, will need to work harder to comply with the new standard. The increased cost to a
developer of doing so will further increase pressure to constrain overall dwelling sizes. Of
course the whole life cost will be reduced as a result of more efficient homes, to the benefit of
the occupier.

Waste The Code sets detailed requirements for internal and external storage space for
recyclable materials that go beyond HCA standards.

Health and Wellbeing The Code embeds the Lifetime Homes standards as an optional or
tradable criteria. It also sets out optional criteria for providing private external space (garden,
balcony etc). The requirements for daylighting, whilst optional and not exceeding those set out
in British Standards, discourage the use of deep-plan single aspect dwelling layouts and may
also indirectly encourage brighter and more spacious designs.

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Location and Transport The Code includes an option for the provision of a home office
space, which must be accommodated in addition to other furniture requirements. It also has an
option to provide secure and covered cycle storage. Whilst this can be provided in an external
shed, it may also be included within the dwelling in which case it must be in addition to other
space storage requirements.

Likely Changes

A revised version of the Code was published for public consultations which ended on 24th
March 2010. The intention is to introduce the revised version later in 2010 to coincide with the
updates to Building Regulations Parts L and F. Further major revisions to the Code are
anticipated in 2013 and 2016, in line with the implementation of the Zero Carbon Homes policy
and future changes to the Building Regulations.

The principal changes proposed in the current revision will bring the Code into line with the
proposed Fabric Energy Efficiency Standard and the new definition of zero carbon.

The scoring will place greater emphasis on energy efficiency with reduced, but still significant,
emphasis on emissions.

The requirements will incorporate changes to the accessibility requirements to reflect the
proposed changes to Lifetime Homes and it will also include greater flexibility for the waste and
recycling storage provision.

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Lifetime Homes

The Purpose of the Standard

Lifetime Homes was created in the early 1990s as a result of research by the Joseph Rowntree
Foundation into the long term suitability of our homes. The aim was to promote accessibility
and inclusivity in dwelling design to ensure that dwellings would adapt over time to suit the
changing circumstances of the occupants through old age, reduced mobility or temporary
disability. A lifetime Home is a home that will not evict its occupants through changing
circumstances.

Policy Weighting

Sixteen design criteria have structured the standard since its inception. Although some of the
recommendations have now become embedded in statutory documents such as Building
Regulations Approved Document Part M the Lifetime Homes standard has always been
achieved through self-evaluation. There is no accredited assessment system though the
standard is now in the custodianship of Habinteg Housing Association who maintain the
website and offer guidance on interpretation. Revisions to the standard are currently being
considered under the consultation on the Code for Sustainable Homes, which ended in March
2010.

The GLA made Lifetime Homes a requirement for all development, private and public, in the
2004 London Plan. In July 2009 the government published a PPS on Eco-towns and the
Lifetime Homes Standard is a material consideration for any development within an Eco-town.

History of the Standard

The Lifetime Homes concept was developed by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Habinteg
Housing Association and The Helen Hamlyn Foundation in the early 1990s. The resultant 16
design criteria aim to produce homes that are accessible to a wide range of occupants and
able to be easily adapted to meet changing needs of a household. Those provisions, which
attempt to anticipate future changes and introduce adaptability, are different in spirit from
Building Regulations, which prescribe the minimum accessibility standards for a dwelling at the
time of construction.

Impact on Housing Design

The design criteria that impact on space standards are discussed below. The general
requirements are stated or paraphrased with a note on the potential impact.

Criterion 6 Doorways and Hallways The width of internal doorways is related to corridor
widths and approaches, which range between 900mm and 1200mm. This provision exceeds
the requirements of Approved Document Part M.

Criterion 7 Wheelchair Accessibility There should be space for turning a wheelchair in dining
areas and living areas and adequate circulation space elsewhere. A 1500mm turning circle or
1700x 1400 mm turning ellipse will satisfy the requirement.

Criterion 8 Living Room For visitability the living room should be located at entrance level,
affecting the space planning within the dwelling but not necessarily its internal dimensions.

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Criterion 9 Entrance Level Bedspace In houses of two or more storeys there should be space
on the entrance level that can be used as a convenient bedspace. No specification or
dimensions are given. In practice moveable items of furniture can be removed as this is a
provision for a temporary illness or disability and the main design consideration is the potential
position of the bed in relation to immoveable items such as windows, doors and electrical
services.

Criterion 10 Entrance Level WC and Shower Drain Dwellings with three or more bedrooms,
or on one level, must have a fully accessible WC and drainage provision to allow a shower to
be fitted. The Lifetime Homes requirement is more onerous than Approved Document Part M.

Criterion 12 Stair Lift and Through Lift A suitable space for a through-the-floor lift connecting
the ground to an upper bedroom must be provided. The staircase in the home must be
capable of accommodating a seated chair lift. To comply with the space standard the staircase
must be 900mm wide and the landings must be unobstructed.

Criterion 14 Bathroom Layout The bathroom should be designed to incorporate ease of

access to the bath, WC and basin. In practice there is not a requirement for a turning circle
however adequate circulation space must be maintained in front and to the side of fittings.

Likely Changes

The public consultation on the Code for Sustainable Homes ended in March 2010 and included
a consultation on proposed amendments to the Lifetime Homes. These, relatively minor,
changes have been recommended by a technical working group and aim to clarify access
arrangements and dimensional requirements. The requirement for level thresholds is relaxed in
certain areas (for instance balconies) where dimensional co-ordination with large thicknesses
of insulation may be a problem in the future with the introduction of the Fabric Energy
Efficiency Standard (FEES).

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Secured by Design

The Purpose of the Standard

Secured by Design is a crime prevention initiative that encourages good practice in the design
and layout of buildings to reduce the opportunity for crime and increase the perception of
safety in new development.

The standard acknowledges that good design must be the aim of all those involved in the
development process and should be encouraged everywhere. The background document to
the 2004 edition refers to government planning policy which identifies community safety as an
integral part of the design agenda, referring to Planning Policy Guidance Note 3 (PPG3), which
called upon local planning authorities to:

promote design and layouts which are safe and take account of public health, crime
prevention and community safety considerations.

Secured by Design was updated in 2009 to align with and compliment the Code for
Sustainable Homes. The standard is owned by the Association of Chief Police Officers
(ACPO).

Policy Weighting

The HCA refers to Secured by Design in the Design and quality standards, April 2007, used in
the assessment of Housing Grant for the 2008-2011 National Affordable Housing Programme.
Schemes must reflect the advice obtained from local police architectural liaison officers/crime
prevention design advisors (CPDA) and wherever possible obtain secured by design
accreditation. Award applications area assessed by the crime prevention design advisor.

Impact on Housing Design

The 2009 standard is divided into two parts, the first, Design Solutions, considers the layout of
streets and relationship of estate planning to crime. The second part, Preferred Specifications,
contains detailed requirements for the security aspects of windows doors, locks and the like
and is not concerned with housing design.

Design Solutions emphasizes the definition of ownership and advocates the layout of roads
and footpaths on a cul-de-sac, non-permeable, basis (Part 1 Section 3.0 Through Roads and
Cul-de-sacs). Detailed issues such as seating planting and lighting are also considered but
these are not relevant to dwelling space standards.

Two sections consider the orientation and layout of buildings. Section 11 advises on the
position of dwelling frontages and advocates a mix of dwellings to improve potential for homes
to be occupied throughout the day.

Section 16 gives advice on the position of parking. Communal parking is generally

discouraged but where necessary small groups must be within view from routinely occupied
rooms of owners premises. This has a bearing on the disposition of parking across the site
and to a small degree the layout of dwellings relating living spaces to a view of parking and
providing natural surveillance in the public realm.

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Building for Life

The purpose of the Standard

Building for Life promotes design excellence and celebrates (through awards) best practice in
the house building industry. Building for Life assessments score the design quality of planned
or completed housing developments against the 20 Building for Life criteria. Anyone can do an
informal assessment but formal assessments, now required by several agencies, can only be
carried out by an accredited Building for Life assessor.

Assessments are completed against all of the 20 Building for Life criteria.

Each criterion can be scored 1, 0.5 or 0.

- Score of 1 - Awarded where there is sufficient evidence that the design meets the
criterion
- Score of 0.5 - Awarded where a specific part of the design meets this criterion, but
another does not.
- Score of 0 - Awarded where there is not enough evidence that the criterion will be met,
or where the evidence makes it clear the criterion will not be met

Building for Life scores fall in to the following grades:

- 16 or more Very good (Gold Standard)
- 14 - 15.5 Good (Silver Standard)
- 10 - 13.5 Average
- 9.5 or fewer Poor

Policy Weighting

The HCA uses Building for Life in the following situations:

- Applicants for National Affordable Housing Programme grants should demonstrate that
their proposal meets at least 12 criteria
- Design teams proposing residential development on HCA land Property and
Regeneration (P+R) programme should demonstrate that their proposal meets at least
14 criteria.

NAHP funding: The HCA does not require an accredited BfL assessment with the submission
of the NAHP bid, however it is recommended that bidders should submit a design statement
which demonstrates how each of the Building for Life criteria will be addressed. Following the
submission of the NAHP bid, the HCA may ask for an accredited assessment of the
development proposal. If the HCA agrees to provide grant support for the scheme proposed,
the development will be subject to the standard impact audit regime. As such it may be subject
to an on-site Building for Life assessment.

P+R Programme: The HCA does not require an accredited BfL assessment with the
submission of the NAHP bid, however it is recommended that bidders should submit a design
statement which demonstrates how each of the Building for Life criteria will be addressed. It is
a requirement that any development through the P+R programme should be entered into the
Building for Life awards when it is at least fifty per cent complete.

Use in CLG Annual Monitoring Reports: All regional and local planning bodies must submit an
annual monitoring report to CLG with reference to core output indicators: a set of standard
measures used by planning authorities to complete these reports. In July 2008 CLG published
a set of revised core output indicators that introduced Building for Life as the indicator of
housing quality (Indicator H6).
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Annual monitoring returns indicate the number and proportion of total new build completions of
housing sites reaching very good, good, average and poor ratings against the Building for Life
criteria. Monitoring returns will include any housing site which involves at least ten completed
dwellings (available for use), including phases of large developments where they are to be
counted in that year as net additional completions.

Spatial Scale of Implementation

The Building for Life standard benchmarks developments across a range of indicators relating
to suitability of tenure and type; the quality of the public realm; and the design and performance
of the dwellings.

History of the Standard

Building for Life was formally launched in September 2001 with a commitment to the following
aims:
- Celebrating best practice in home and neighbourhood design;
- Understanding the needs and aspirations of home buyers; and
- Identifying the barriers to good design and campaigning to remove them

From the process of selecting case studies for the website, a set of questions was produced to
judge the quality of new housing development. These questions were published by a
partnership of CABE, the Home Builders Federation HBF and Design for Homes as the
Building for Life criteria in July 2003.

In 2005, CABE published a flip-chart guide, listing and explaining the Building for Life criteria
and their application in more detail. Drafted in close consultation with the Home Builders
Federation, the guide was published in November 2005 under the title Delivering great Places
to Live: 20 questions you need to answer. The criteria guide is one of the publications most
frequently downloaded from the CABE and Building for Life websites, and has been updated
regularly to keep in step with the policy context. An further guidance document entitled
Evaluating Housing Proposals step by step was published via the Building for Life website in
2007.

Impact on Housing Design

An accredited Building for Life assessment will be based on the professional expertise and
judgment of the assessor, and will evaluate the scheme in terms of current best practice,
relevant local and national policy frameworks, and other current standards in use in housing,
such as the Code for Sustainable Homes (Criterion 5), Secure by Design (Criterion 15) and the
Lifetime Homes standard (Criterion 18).

Space standards:
Aspects of fitness for purpose, e.g. good space standards and adequate daylighting and
ventilation are addressed through Criterion 17: Architectural Quality. Accredited assessors will
scrutinize floor plans for fitness for purpose, and check schemes for any over-reliance on
single-aspect orientation.

Accommodation and Tenure Mix:

Suitability of accommodation and tenure is assessed under Criteria 2 and 3. Accredited
assessors will scrutinise the available evidence to gain an understanding of the proposed
developments appropriateness of response to the local housing policy context.

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In order to achieve a full score against these criteria, evidence would ideally make reference to
the local housing needs assessment. Reference could also be made to the processes of
community consultation or demographic profiling which may have informed the formulation of
the mix.

Sustainability:
Accredited assessors will scrutinise the available evidence to gain an understanding of the
proposed developments performance against the Code for Sustainable Homes. Schemes
meeting the current level of expectation (e.g. CSH level 3) would generally gain a score of 1
point against Criterion 5, whereas schemes exceeding the current level of expectation (e.g.
CSH level 4-6) would gain a point against criterion 5 and an additional score of 1 point against
criterion 20.

Highways and Street Design:

Accredited assessors will scrutinise the available evidence to gain an understanding of the
proposed developments appropriateness of response to guidance set out in the Manual for
Streets.

Safety:
Accredited assessors will scrutinise the available evidence to gain an understanding of the
proposed developments regard for adequate safety and overlook in the public realm. Evidence
may include the comments of the Architectural Liaison Officer assessing the scheme against
the Secure by Design standard.

Adaptability:
The adaptability of homes is addressed under Criterion 18. In the first instance, accredited
assessors will scrutinise the available evidence to gain an understanding of the schemes
performance against the Lifetime Homes standard. Where the Lifetime Homes standard is not
met in full, other aspects of the design of the dwellings will be taken into account in order to
evaluate the flexibility of the accommodation on offer.

Likely Changes

CABE is entering the final year of a three-year programme to establish a national network of
accredited assessors for Building for Life, with a commitment to training at least one assessor
in each local planning authority in England by 2011. To date, around 180 accredited assessors
are in place in planning authorities. The accredited assessors work to a code of conduct and
are subject to a CABE programme of quality assurance and support.

In the process of gaining accreditation, assessors working in local planning authorities are
asked to map the 20 Building for Life criteria against the relevant national policy documents
(such as PPS and PPS3 etc.), as well as against relevant local policies and guidance (e.g. the
LDF and related SPG). The evaluation of any scheme against the 20 Building for Life criteria
will be undertaken in the context of the relevant policy frameworks in place at the time of
assessment.

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Building Regulations Approved Documents

It is widely supposed that the Building Regulations do not directly impact housing design or
internal space standards. There are no minimum room or dwelling sizes, however, the
regulations influence decisions over dwelling layouts and internal space allocations. The
headings below briefly summarise the main areas of relevance:

Part B Fire

The means of escape provisions set maximum escape distances that limit the overall size of
dwellings, especially flats, where there is only one point of exit. The requirements for enclosing
staircases and corridors in fire-resisting construction mean that options for innovations in layout
are limited. There is a possibility that in future revisions of the Building Regulations sprinkler
systems may be made compulsory. If that happens, there may be greater freedom to develop
new internal layouts and the amount of space dedicated to circulation may reduce.

Part L Conservation of Fuel and Power

As already noted under the CfSH section, there is an indirect relationship between the
requirements to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the overall form and size of dwellings.
This relationship will become more important as further changes to Part L are introduced this
year, in 2013 and in 2016 (including the proposed introduction of the Energy Efficiency
Standard).

Part M Access

The provisions for ambulant disabled access to dwellings contained in Part M of the building
regulations largely reflect much of the good practice guidance contained within Lifetime
Homes. This includes minimum sizes for circulation and provision of accessible WCs on the
ground floor of the dwelling.

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