Addressing the design quality of new housing in the East Midlands

Margaret Allen, director of Central Field, discusses the findings that placed the East Midlands at the bottom of CABE’s housing audit.

The dinner to launch CABE's audit of the design quality of new housing in the East Midlands sat heavily on the stomach. Launched in February 2007, the findings placed the East Midlands at the bottom of the league with only 3% of schemes assessed as very good, and 55% of schemes classified as poor and unworthy of planning permission. Needless to say, the dinner was a feisty occasion with significant challenge from developers who made some valid points about time-lag and local planning issues, but who were swimming against a tide of standard house types and local vernacular. Nonetheless, it does beg the question - why does the East Midlands fair so badly in comparison to other regions?

'Malcolm in the Middle'

The East Midlands has been described as 'Malcolm in the middle'. It does not have the benefit of high property values and the economic profile of the South, nor the designated failed markets of the North that attract significant inward investment initiatives. It does, however, have a flavour of both. Key issues for the region are managing the impact of growth in the southern part of the region; urban area regeneration in the main centres; tackling low demand in the former coalfields; and providing homes in rural areas where affordability is an issue for local people. All of these require reflective design solutions able to support the economic and social demands of the locality.

Over the two years from 2006 to 2008, the Housing Corporation will be investing £155m into the development of new affordable housing and with this we expect to deliver about 4555 homes. Ensuring best value for this investment cannot only focus on cost; the quality and sustainability of the homes are equally important.

The Local Sustainable Design Forum Pilot

With this in mind, the Housing Corporation and Opun (part of Regeneration East Midlands, the architecture and built environment centre for the region), set up a pilot initiative to involve key stakeholders in the design of new affordable housing schemes, and participate in some really joined-up thinking on design quality. The aim was for local stakeholders, regional experts and ourselves to jointly review a small number of volunteered scheme designs, and input expertise and ideas, so as to achieve the best possible design outcomes for new affordable homes. These design outcomes were viewed largely in terms of quality of life factors rather than just design standards.

Three forums were held: one in Leicestershire, one in Derby and one in Nottingham, reviewing seven schemes in total. All proved valuable. Even for schemes with full planning permission. a number of very pertinent recommendations were made. These included recommendations for better surveillance over play areas, better vehicular and pedestrian circulation within the site, improved natural lighting and ventilation to homes, improved design of bike and bin stores, improved security measures, and suggestions for the inclusion of public art.

Moving from pilot to project

From this pilot the Local Sustainable Design Forum (LSDF) was established to formalise the panel approach. Six forums are planned for 2007/08, which are jointly facilitated and financed by Housing Corporation and Opun with significant input from the local authorities.

A really important aim in the design of the LSDF initiative was to embed it locally; to give housing and planning officers, residents' representatives and the Local Strategic Partnership representative key seats at the table, with the Housing Corporation and Opun facilitating and supporting their discussions. The involvement of a Local Strategic Partnership representative is designed to raise the profile of housing and planning issues in the mix of planning for sustainable communities. The involvement of a community resident supports local engagement and the Neighbourhoods and Communities agenda.

Another aim was to keep the forum informal and collaborative. We didn't want it to be viewed as a panel where you passed or failed but more as a workshop with valuable outcomes, not only on a scheme-by-scheme basis but on wider policy issues. The third key ingredient was to keep it really simple. The provider prepares a couple of sides of an A4 brief prior to the forum, spends an hour at the forum and afterwards provides a short written response to the forum recommendations.

The LSDF process

The idea is that any stakeholder, including Development Partners (RSL or private developer), can put forward schemes which include affordable housing to the forum. It is envisaged that schemes will mostly be brought forward in the early stages of design prior to a detailed planning application being submitted. The housing provider puts together a scheme proposal or presentation which is circulated to forum members who are encouraged to visit the sites prior to the forum. The forum is held in the offices of one of the local authorities. On the day each scheme will get an hour for members to receive a 20 minute presentation by the provider, before discussing the scheme and making their recommendations.

One of the benefits of the site visits prior to the forum is that forum members can assess for themselves the context within which the specific scheme sits. Consequently a number of recommendations have been made for change to site massing and materials. For one proposed residential development on a previously commercial site it was recommended that a wider area plan be developed to look at adjacent sites that may be available for future residential use. For another scheme, which was adjacent to a university campus, recommendations were made on the contribution the scheme could make to the security of the wider environment, by strategically located lighting and appropriately located footpath routes.

The story so far in 2007/08

At the time of writing, the first forum for 2007/08 had considered four schemes, all with positive outcomes.

The initiative is supported by all stakeholders and the improvements to scheme designs have been significant. The forums generate significant discussion and have led to negotiated amendments making real impact on the quality of schemes emerging through the process.

Partners are encouraged to bring their professional designers, and other local and regional experts - such as local authority transport engineers or English Heritage - are invited relative to the nature of schemes submitted.

The initiative has been well received and is the produce of much hard work and passion from within the East Midlands to make a real difference on design and the quality of life generated by the homes that we live in. As the Director of Central England and the Corporations' national design champion, this fills me with confidence that the East Midlands will make its mark in design and move from the occasional exemplar scheme to a higher standard across the board. Hopefully this will lead to a more digestible CABE review and dinner in the future!

Further information can be found on the Housing Corporation website, where a page to promote the LSDF and to publish the case studies has been established. The web page has been developed by the Housing Corporation East Midlands investment team and provides contact information for our technical team who can provide further guidance and advice.

Margaret Allen is Director, Central Field, at the Housing Corporation and a member of the Building for Life final judging panel