Hillingdon had required that no development should take place until an interim design stage certificate was issued and that a post construction certificate must be issued before occupation. Ian Thynne, Hillingdon’s Principal Sustainability Officer said “this should be another piece of encouragement to get others to take the plunge.”
The decision builds on the precedent of a case in Chelmsford where an appeal against the requirement to build to Code Level 3 was dismissed. However this case was different because Hillingdon did not have a requirement in their development plan for Code level 3.
The developer challenged Hillingdon on the grounds that it was premature to ask for it, and there was no development plan policy in place. The council successfully argued that although there was no development plan policy, the principal of the PPS1 supplement, the London Plan and the need to develop beyond building regulations was sufficient justification enough.
Thynne said “We felt meeting Code 3 was the most appropriate approach on small scale development to achieve sustainable design…The Inspectorate dismissed the appeal which goes some way to endorsing the approach we have taken to requiring Code Level 3 and sets a precedent where LDFs have not quite caught up with the national planning context.”
The Code for Sustainable Homes is a government framework that outlines a broad range of sustainability requirements for new residential construction. Code level 3 is required on all Government funded housing and is increasingly being required for all homes by local authorities.
We train Code assessors. For more information on the Code and how to become a qualified assessor see here.
For full details of the Hillingdon case see below