In February 2014, the Society wrote to our local MP and relevant Ministers expressing concern about the very small internal area of dwellings proposed nowadays by some developers.

It would seem that we were not the only ones, and the Department’s second reply included the following….

“The Government consulted last year on proposals for a national space standard that local authorities could adopt to ensure that new dwellings met minimum requirements for internal size. In March this year, Stephen Williams, the Minister responsible for Building Regulations, confirmed that Government would proceed with the development of the national space standard, and we will be consulting shortly on the detailed form that this standard will take with a view to implementing the review outcomes next year. Details of the previous consultation, the draft space standard, the summary of responses to the consultation and the Minister’s announcement can be found at the following links;

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/housing-standards-review-consultation

https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/providing-effective-building-regulations-so-that-new-and-altered-buildings-are-safe-accessible-and-efficient/supporting-pages/technical-housing-standards-review”

A further announcement included links to two further consultations on implementation:

Open consultation: Housing standards review: technical consultation. This is a consultation seeking views on the proposals for implementation of the housing standards review and in particular the technical standards.

Impact assessment: Housing standards review technical consultation: impact assessment. This is the consultation stage impact assessment accompanying the housing standards review: technical consultation.

The documents to which the above links refer are large and technical, but seemingly moving in the right direction. Your Committee will continue to monitor progress.