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Make beauty part of the planning system, report says

Influential thinktank Policy Exchange has said beauty should be mandated as part of the planning process for new housing.

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Picture: Getty
Picture: Getty
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Beauty in new housing should be mandated as part of the planning process, an influential thinktank has said #ukhousing

In a report entitled Building Beautiful Places, the right-wing thinktank Policy Exchange recommended that the government define national criteria for “beautiful places”, so that design has a more prominent role in planning.

The report also said local planning authorities should have the option of setting their own standards. Whichever criteria are used, they would then be part of the planning process, with the developer being obliged to fulfil them.

Housing secretary James Brokenshire welcomed the report in its foreword, but did not endorse any of its specific proposals.


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The report’s nine suggested criteria for beautiful places were:

  • Community and stakeholder consultation
  • Clear definition of public and private urban and green spaces
  • Diversity of housing types and tenures
  • Mix of small, medium and large employment spaces
  • Materials that are locally popular and environmentally sound
  • Tree coverage consistent with the surrounding area
  • A plan for long-term management
  • Accessibility of local services and amenities
  • A demonstration of how quality will be controlled beyond the planning system

Local plans already require developers to meet certain design standards, but the report criticised some of these for being too vague and not setting precise benchmarks.

For example, Southampton City Council was singled out for stating in its local plan: “New development should be designed to improve legibility and local identity by enhancing and complementing the positive visual characteristics of the city and its wider regional area.”

Conversely, the report praised other councils for outlining specific aims, such as Wiltshire Council’s policy that developments should provide six acres of public open space per 1,000 residents.

The report did not recommend any benchmarks for its nine criteria, instead saying they should be determined by public consultation.

Policy Exchange exerted a major influence over housing policy during David Cameron’s tenure as prime minister, with its former head of housing, planning and urban policy Alex Morton being appointed to Mr Cameron’s top team in 2015.

Theresa May later abandoned many of the policies subsequently adopted by Mr Cameron. But the frontrunner to be the next prime minister, Boris Johnson, endorsed a Policy Exchange report on housing policy last month.

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