The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) teamed up to pledge their joint commitment to drive up the design quality of new homes, following the publication of the first national design survey of new affordable housing in England.
The findings of the Affordable Housing Survey, produced by CABE and commissioned by the Housing Corporation, now part of the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), show mixed results.
Based on the assessment of 218 schemes from the Housing Corporation's 2004/06 and 2006/08 funding rounds, the findings show nearly two thirds (61%) to be 'average', with 18% of schemes either 'good' or 'very good'. A fifth of schemes (21%) were assessed as 'poor'.
Some aspects of the schemes were frequently strong: these included architectural quality, the quality of the surrounding public realm and the tenure and accommodation mix. Many schemes also outperformed statutory minimum criteria, such as building regulations.
But the survey assessed the whole place, not only the buildings, and found other aspects of some schemes to be weak. These included a lack of distinctiveness and having a design that does not respond to its context. Some schemes were difficult to navigate around, or had limited access to local amenities. Around 20% of schemes were marked down as a result of these issues.
The report recommendations include closer working between RSLs and local planning authorities and enforcing minimum design standards, including Building for Life. The HCA currently requires partners to adhere to the ex-Housing Corporation design standards and ex-English Partnerships quality standards for schemes on its land.
A Design and Sustainability Advisory Group is currently being set up by the HCA to provide independent strategic policy advice to the agency. The Group will provide an ongoing independent perspective on the extent to which the HCA’s statutory duties in respect of good design and sustainable development are being delivered.
A consortium, led by the BRE Centre for Innovative Construction Materials at the University of Bath, has embarked on a housing project to develop the use of construction materials made of hemp.
Hemp-lime is a lightweight building material made of fibres from the fast-growing cannabis plant, bound together using a lime-based adhesive.
Researchers explained that the hemp plant stores carbon during its growth and this, combined with the low carbon footprint of lime and its efficient insulating properties, gives the material a 'better than zero carbon' footprint.
Professor Pete Walker, director of the BRE Centre for Innovative Construction Materials, said:
"We will be looking at the feasibility of using hemp-lime in place of traditional materials, so that they can be used widely in the building industry.
"We will be measuring the properties of lime-hemp materials, such as their strength and durability, as well as the energy efficiency of buildings made of these materials.
"Using renewable crops to make building materials makes real sense - it only takes an area the size of a rugby pitch four months to grow enough hemp to build a typical three bedroom house.
"Growing crops such as hemp can also provide economic and social benefits to rural economies through new agricultural markets for farmers and associated industries."
The three-year project, worth almost £750,000, will collect scientific and engineering data about this new material so it can be more widely used in the UK for building homes.
The project brings together a team of nine partners: BRE Ltd, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studio architects, Hanson Cement, Hemcore, Lhoist UK, Lime Technology, National Non-Food Crops Centre, University of Bath and Wates Living Space.
