Can design codes help to create 1.5 million high-quality homes?

The new Labour Government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) proposes to drop the requirement for local planning authorities to produce authority-wide design codes. But can design codes still be a powerful tool to deliver housing at scale and within planetary boundaries?

Local authority-wide design codes first entered the stage in summer 2022, when they became mandatory as part of the Levelling Up Bill.

Design codes are a set of simple, concise, illustrated design requirements for the physical development of places. The idea is that, by moving community engagement and strategic design upstream in the development process, design codes should improve design quality, speed up planning, and increase community agency.

There is evidence to suggest that they are working. Over the past two years, we at the Design Council have been working with the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, through the Design Code Pathfinder Programme, to help 25 Local Planning Authorities and Neighbourhood Planning Groups develop design codes.

We have published high-quality guidance to support other local authorities in producing their codes. And we’ve seen the challenges local planning authorities (LPAs) continue to face, even with good guidance in place - from aligning design code objectives across a wide set of stakeholders to implementing codes in development management practice.

Design codes form part of our wider programme of work, which aims to use design to create a more sustainable, equitable future. The shift away from local authority-wide design codes, proposed in the new Government’s current planning consultation, creates an opportunity for a strategic rethink of how design codes are used.

Building 1.5 million new homes in the next five years within the UK’s legally binding carbon budget is an enormous design challenge. Developers will not only have to deliver more homes than they have for decades but create them at a higher quality and with a lower ecological footprint.

Housing associations will need to balance the competing demands of retrofitting existing stock and building new homes.

It’s a Herculean challenge that a refocused design coding drive could help tackle in the right circumstances.

There are four ‘driving lessons’ from the Pathfinder Programme that should facilitate sustainable development at scale:

1. Choose the right model for the terrain

Through the Pathfinder Programme, we’ve seen first-hand the importance of having a clear focus and ambition for design codes. Our Design Council specialists, Penelope Tollit, Holly Lewis, and Paul Dodd, have seen two distinct types of design code through their work on the Programme: codes that deliver new housing, and those that evolve existing stock. If you’re creating a design code, you must be clear about which approach you are taking.

Firstly, design codes that seek to ease and encourage homeowner-led development offer an opportunity to provide user-friendly guidance. These codes - such as the code for the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham’s Becontree Estate - do not primarily aim to increase housing supply. Instead, they focus on improving design quality for housing refurbishment, retrofit, and extension, easing the caseload for local planning authorities by streamlining low-impact applications.

Secondly, design codes that proactively set a vision for and support the delivery of housing, particularly at scale, often work in conjunction with a masterplan and site allocations in a local plan. These aim to set clear expectations for developers bringing forward proposals for new housing.

While both add value, attempting to combine them within a single design code is challenging. To maximise the value of coding, we believe it is important to build consensus at a national level on the most effective use of codes in solving both the climate and housing crises.

2. Resource LPAs to deliver codes well

It’s no secret that there is a skills and capacity deficit in local authorities. But good teams are vital if we want good design codes. While some LPAs, particularly in London, have urban design specialists in-house, most do not. And while skills gaps can be filled by consultants, the successful implementation of codes over the long term cannot rely on the use of consultants alone.

Design coding requires cross-local authority collaboration - from transport planning to community engagement - and all council teams need the time and knowledge to feed into the process.

This is especially crucial for the drive to net zero, where complex topics like carbon accounting require specialist skills and a joined-up strategy. The Pathfinder Programme shows that the coding process has started to unravel a culture of siloed working within local authorities, but codes must be championed at a leadership level to unlock greater collaboration.

To maximise the benefit of design codes, the design and climate capability of LPAs must be supported by the government. This will require more than 300 new planning officers, but specialist training for them would be a start.

3. Put communities in the driving seat

If design codes are truly going to grow local support for housing development, coding teams must prioritise genuine and deep community engagement throughout.

This might mean slowing down at the beginning to foster positive long-term relationships with the local community - whether that’s the general public, local interest groups, or housebuilders. Everyone knows community engagement is important, but it is hard to do well. A lack of in-house skills and consultation fatigue often limits meaningful engagement.

Marrying different perspectives and creating consensus requires multiple iterations of engagement, consultation, testing, and training to ensure the code delivers both on paper and in practice. Engaging deeply through dedicated assembly groups is a great way to achieve this. Barking & Dagenham, for example, formed a coding working group with community members that received highly positive feedback and enabled community members to contribute meaningfully to design coding discussions.

4. Make the map easy to use

Planning documents are notorious for being dense and difficult to navigate. Good design codes should be focused on the user - whether a development management officer, developer, or homeowner - providing clarity. Many of our ‘pathfinders’ found this tricky, struggling to get the right graphic design approach or needing to produce multiple documents tailored to specific user groups.

There needs to be a shift in the way planning policy is created - from a linear process to a truly iterative one of user testing and continuous improvement.

To expedite the planning process, the holy grail of design codes would be a fully digitalised system - think of a GPS that tells you exactly where you need to go, rather than an A-Z street atlas to interpret. Site-specific codes should aim to be user-friendly, digital-first tools to make sustainable development the default approach.

Then go

Delivering 1.5 million homes within planetary boundaries while retrofitting existing stock, at pace, will require all the energy, skills, and tools we have - and design codes are an important tool in the box. They won’t fix every problem but, handled with skill, they can make a real difference.

Indeed, they already are doing so. Across the country, design coding has started to create high-quality places. In the Lake District, the LPA’s design code is the first piece of design guidance it has had in a decade, and it is already enabling the organisation to make more confident and assertive design decisions.

Medway’s code is helping to secure inward investment to regenerate Chatham town centre. Barking’s Becontree Estate’s code is enabling residents to improve and extend their homes easily.

Visit our website to see our free design code guidance resources and sign up for our design code series of webinars.