Blinkered Boris caves in : Update
April 26th, 2010
A month ago today I wrote an article entitled Blinkered Boris caves in and subsequently copied the article to the Mayor of London and other contacts. I received encouraging news from somebody associated with the project which I have added below and today received an email from City Hall which I have reproduced below:-
Dear [……]
Thank you for your email to the Mayor, to which I have been asked to respond.
The Draft London Housing Design Guide which contains a raft of standards to improve the quality and design of new housing went out for public consultation in July 2009. As a result of that consultation a revised version of the London Housing Design Guide, will be published by June 2010.
Yours sincerely
Kemi Oguntoye
Housing Unit
Well that’s nice except that he hasn’t addressed my specific complaint about single aspect dwellings so we’ll have to wait and see what it contains by way of mandating dual aspect dwellings.
I did hear from a source that things aren’t quite as bad as they might seem.
. . . don’t believe all you read in Building. The London SPG . . . will strengthen the case for dual aspect and space standards not weaken it by applying it to the private sector. Watch this space . . .
So roll on June 2010 and the revised publication.
UPDATE: Time did roll on and the revised publication appeared but the single aspect requirements are weak, in my view. Taken directly from the publication itself there is a discretionary (P2) requirement for direct sunlight:-
5.5.2 All homes should provide for direct sunlight to enter at least one habitable room for part the day. Living areas and kitchen dining spaces should preferably receive direct sunlight. P2
On the other hand the guide does appear to rule out North facing single aspect flats on a mandatory basis:-
5.2.1 Developments should avoid single aspect dwellings that are north facing, exposed to noise exposure categories C or D, or contain three or more bedrooms P1