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The Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) sees a salute to the centenary of the Housing and Town Planning in a “new, ground-breaking” piece of legislation to transform the quality of new homes in England.

As pitched, this legislation would force ministers to make sure that all new housing meets ten quality, safety and placemaking ‘principles’, attributes the organisation claims collectively constitute a ‘decent’ home.

Fiona Howie, chief executive of the TCPA, specifically referenced the current trend for converting old office blocks and storage facilities into housing units as reinforcing the need for quality control.

“The creation of these cramped and substandard housing units is even more scandalous given what we know about the impact of housing conditions on people’s health and well-being -poor quality, badly designed housing damages people’s life chances,” she said.

Principles put forward in the TCPA draft ‘Healthy Homes Bill’ include a requirement that new housing is built to be safe from the risk of fire, includes adequate living space and is located within a short walk of children’s play spaces.

The call for this new legislation is a response to research the TCPA undertook with University College London (UCL).

One case study found that, using permitted development rights, a developer had increased the number of flats in a building by 33% upon what was declared within their ‘prior approval’ application, potentially leading to overcrowding and preventing the local council from planning to meet the needs of residents.

In another example, researchers discovered a two-bed flat, again built using permitted development, having only one small window.

TCPA has timed its announcement to coincide with the centenary of the Housing and Town Planning Act 1919 which helped transform the quality and delivery of council housing. 

“We have gone backwards over the last 100 years, the Healthy Homes Act will help make sure that new homes built today leave a positive legacy,” said Howie.

“We know there is cross party political support for new homes and we hope there will be cross party support for this vital piece of new legislation to help transform the kinds of homes and places we are creating now and for future generations,” she said.