The Government is currently undertaking a review of all of the standards and regulations affecting new homes, with a plan of action and initial consultation due to be published by late spring 2013.
The findings are awaited with interest; the outcomes will determine not just the quality of new homes, but the way we live in the future.
The review includes:
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All standards that can be applied locally through the planning system (this was the remit of the Harman Standards Working Group)
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The Building Regulations and the Approved Documents that sit underneath them.
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Other regimes in place that may also place a burden on the house building process such as sustainable drainage and energy performance certificates.
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Codes such as the Code for Sustainable Homes, Secured by Design, Lifetime Homes, Standards and Quality in Development and the Homes and Communities Agency’s Housing Quality Indicators.
This review is being undertaken alongside the Review of Planning Practice Guidance. The review group and challenge panel are due to submit their findings to ministers by the end of April 2013, following which Ministers will consider both sets of findings and publish a plan of action and initial consultation by late spring 2013.