This charming oak frame home was built on Oakwrights’ (www.oakwrights.
co.uk) custom build site, Webbs Meadow in Herefordshire. With planning permission and utilities already in place, the homeowner, Caroline, project managed the build herself – tailoring the home to meet her exact requirements
MARK WATTS
Wouldn’t it be great if everyone that wanted to self build could just look in the local paper or wander into an estate agent, find their ideal plot straight away and then get on with creating their dream home? Until relatively recently this seemed like a pipe dream, because any land suitable for a new house almost always ends up in the hands of largescale developers. But in 2015, legislation was introduced in England and Wales to compel councils to change their planning rules and ensure that more self build plots would become available. The process has been slow, but in the intervening years planning policy has developed. We’re now at the point where most councils are required to provide a certain number of self build plots as a condition of planning approvals for large estates.
Some planners are worried that these custom build sites will generate a disproportionate amount of extra work for them and, crucially, that they will lose control over the design quality of the new homes. Fortunately, there are some well-established safeguards that help to deal with these concerns without stifling your ability to create a distinctive design. These are represented by two types of document that are integrated into the planning approval process, called design codes and plot passports.
What are design codes?
The concept behind design codes is familiar to planners, because for a long time, similar documents have been created by councils as part of their planning policies. These guides set out the ground rules for the design of new housing developments that might be made up of hundreds of new homes. They’re used to clarify how the design of streets and large estates should be approached, often with detailed guidance on the range of materials to be used, the pattern of road layouts, the massing of buildings and the nature of landscaping required. The earliest version of this type of document that I have come across is The Essex Design Guide, which first appeared in 1973 – so it’s by no means a new idea.
WHAT GOES INTO A DESIGN CODE?
They could be anything from six to 60 pages, depending on the scale of the development and level of control required, covering things such as:
•The relationship with established council planning policy and the areas surrounding the site.
• Where the code applies, which is particularly important if there are different codes covering separate areas on one large site.
•The vision for the site including its intended character, identity and aesthetic aspirations.
•Objectives such as encouraging a mix of affordable housing, shared ownership, co-housing, rented self builds and giving priority for first time buyers or those with a local connection. Plus, the integration of existing features, such as buildings with heritage value and the landscape.
• Off plot rules such as those for new landscaping, trees, species of wildflowers, street paving type, necessary green areas, roads and cycle paths and guidelines surrounding who will manage them.
• House types that are encouraged on the site, perhaps with some typical examples.
• The level of privacy required and the relationships between houses, including building distances.
•A palette of materials that are acceptable, sometimes including colours and hues.
• The level of energy efficiency and sustainable construction requirements, as well as details of water and waste management setups.
• The number of cars allowed, or for community projects, how car sharing schemes can be used to reduce parking spaces and whether there can be communal parking areas in place.
WHAT GOES INTO A DESIGN CODE?
They could be anything from six to 60 pages, depending on the scale of the development and level of control required, covering things such as: