Design codes are coming but will they deliver?

By Ben Flatman2023-05-10T06:00:00

Source: HTA Architects

Last week Berkeley Homes went to war with Michael Gove over the design quality of a scheme in Kent, but compulsory local design codes are meant to help avoid such conflict. Will they work?

The planning system has become an increasingly fraught topic for many within the construction industry. Views range from those who think the system just needs better resourcing, to those who think it requires root and branch reform. Few however are happy with the way things stand. Victoria Hills, chief executive of the RTPI, has said: “Public confidence in England’s planning system is at an all-time low.”

Last week Berkely Homes announced that it was mounting a legal challenge against the government, after Michael Gove blocked its planning application for 165 homes in Kent on “design grounds”. Gove’s intervention went against the advice of a planning inspector.

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