In his first major speech since his re-appointment by PM Rishi Sunak levelling up and housing secretary, Gove said that ensuring new housing schemes were beautiful was key to ensuring local consent for development, but that the design of many current developments was “disappointing”.
Gove also used his speech to
reboot the design code agenda developed during his previous tenure as housing
secretary, and said he would make it easier for developers to secure planning
permission if they adhered to codes.
Speaking to the Centre for
Policy Studies’ Margaret Thatcher Conference on Growth, Gove said: “For those
who have seen new houses built, the fact is that so many house builders are
using a restrictive pattern book with poor-quality materials, and the aesthetic
quality of what they produce is both disappointing and also not in keeping with
the high aesthetic standards that may already exist.
“We will see the wide
adoption of design codes and ways in which individuals can appreciate how it is
easier to secure planning permission if you build in a way that is consistent with
those design codes.
“We will use all the powers
we have in order to make sure that developments which are not aesthetically of
high quality don’t go ahead.”
The government has the power
to ‘call-in’ major developments for determination centrally where schemes are
permitted in defiance of national planning policy.
In March the government
kickstarted a review of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which
Gove is now likely to push ahead with, which could further embed design
standards into national planning policy. However, in July 2021 the government
already updated the NPPF to strengthen its policies around design quality, and
to require
every council to “prepare design guides or codes consistent
with the principles set out in the National Design Guide and National Model
Design Code, and which reflect local character and design preferences”.
Gove, who said late last month that he stood by the 2019 manifesto pledge to build 300,000 homes a year, said that communities would only support such a level of housing if it delivered against principles of “beauty, infrastructure, democracy, environment and neighbourhood”, and that communities understandably “don’t want ugliness to be imposed on them”.
By Joey Gardiner
15 November 2022