Design codes
A Design Code is a set of design requirements providing specific parameters for the physical development of a site or area. They set expectations of design quality for any upcoming development.
- Design stage
- Test and iterate
- Tags
- local plan
- Also known as
- Design Guides
- Datasets
- Frequency of updates
- Ad hoc
- Legislation
- Levelling Up and Regeneration Act (2023)
- Specification
- Design code
- Discussion
- Join the discussion on GitHub
- Last updated
- 30 August 2024
Backlog
Who asked for 'Design codes' data?
Office for Place
What is the driver for the request?
National policy change
Which 2024 focus area does the request support?
Included in LURA;Other
Screen
What is the 'Design codes' consideration?
A Design Code is a set of design requirements providing specific parameters for the physical development of a site or area. They set expectations of design quality for any upcoming development.
Is there legislation that defines 'Design codes'?
Yes
What is the legislation that defines 'Design codes'?
Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, Schedule 7, 15F -
"(1)A local planning authority must ensure that, for every part of their area, the development plan includes requirements with respect to design that relate to development, or development of a particular description, which the authority consider should be met for planning permission for the development to be granted."
What is the specific part of the legislation that describes how a 'Design codes' gets designated?
There is NO legislation on design code creation, but there is some guidance on "Creating a design code".
What is the specific part of the legislation that requires the publication of 'Design codes'?
Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, Schedule 7, 15LC -
"1) The Secretary of State may prescribe information within subsection (3) which each local planning authority must make available to the public."
"(3)Information is within this subsection if it relates to— (a)the implementation of the local planning authority’s local plan timetable; (b)the implementation of policies in their local plan and any supplementary plans they have prepared; (c)the implementation of any policies which relate to the authority’s area, in any spatial development strategy that is operative in relation to their area; (d)the extent to which specified environmental outcomes (within the meaning of Part 6 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023) are being delivered in relation to the authority’s area."
"(4)The information must be in such form, and made available or provided in such manner, as may be prescribed."
Who, in law, is responsible for the planning consideration or makes decisions about 'Design codes'?
Planning authorities are expected to have at least 1 Design Code covering their area
Which organisations do we think should publish the data?
Local authorities
Is there any Design codes data already available?
Yes
What Design codes data is currently available?
- Office for Place (coverage: 11 Design Codes that Office for Place have provided; licence: OGL3)
Do we think the data should come from a single source?
No
Will a data standard be required?
Yes
Research
Do we understand how the data is created/produced?
At the moment it is not produced. Planning authorities create their Design Code but do not also create data for it. Office for Place have seeded some data so that they can show the value of a design code library - a tool that can only be built if you have the required data
Where will or should the data be used?
The data can be used by other authors of design codes. This can help them write better-quality codes that follow emerging patterns.
The individual design code rules or requirements can be used by planning officers when making determinations on planning applications.
What other planning considerations does it interact with?
- Local plans - Design codes are occasionally referenced in local plans, so we think that this consideration feeds into the process of creating a local plan as they will need to be followed and adhered to.
What are the planning needs for this data?
See write up of user needs on discussion thread
Who are the types of users who might benefit from having access to Design codes data?
- Office for Place - they are champions of design codes and want to improve the quality and use of them
- authors of Design Codes
- urban planners
- planning officers
What's the value of adding Design codes data to the platform?
We have a potential user of the data - the Office for Place would use it to build a design code library service.
Design Codes are often large documents that are difficult to navigate. Data can help to break down that barrier, making them more widely used and adhered to.
Our research suggests that getting authors of Design Codes to think about the data requirement from the outset will lead to more accessible and usable Design Codes
From what we have learnt so far are there any risks to making Design codes data available?
No