Their new houses may have won national media praise, been lauded by industry experts and even made the shortlist of the Royal Institute of British Architects’ (Riba) Stirling Prize. But for Norwich council, it’s the reaction from the residents on Goldsmith Street that has marked its 100 newly built homes as a success. “I was overwhelmed when I was told the property was mine. I simply couldn’t believe my luck,” says one resident. “Since moving and settling in, my life is barely recognisable. It feels like the fresh start and new beginning that I needed.”
With intelligently designed streets, and patches of grass for children to play on, this energy-efficient development in Norwich – rented out by the council with secure tenancies at fixed rents – exemplifies the smart, environmentally friendly and beautifully designed homes now being built in greater numbers by local authorities.
A combination of events, including the lifting of financial restrictions in 2018, has led to a resurgence of council house-building unheard of since the 1980s.
That’s particularly true in London, where 17 boroughs – more than half – have set up their own local development companies. Architects see it as a real opportunity to create homes tailored to local residents. “Because [councils] have a concern for long-term stewardship, which the housebuilders don’t, and because they have political aspirations to make sustainable neighbourhoods, they are ratcheting up quality at an astonishing pace,” says Riba president Ben Derbyshire. That hasn’t always been guaranteed in the private sector – a 2018 report found only one in 10 respondents felt new homes are built with good design, style and modern living requirements in mind.
Riba’s own research on the characteristics of places where people want to live includes case studies of mixed tenures, from Cambridge, York, Salford and Essex, among others. Good design is key – a plan for the right housing in the right place, with good access to local services; a variety of housing types to create an integrated, diverse community; a design that creates a sense of ownership and belonging; and qualities that make residents feel at home, such as effective noise insulation, good levels of natural light and room proportions, access to green space, and efficient use of fuel.
It’s a wishlist many would say costs money. In the face of slashed budgets – the Local Government Association estimates that between 2010 and 2016 councils lost 60p out of every £1 they received from central government – it’s one local authorities may struggle to prioritise. But Flora Samuel, professor of architecture in the built environment at the University of Reading, says good design doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, she argues that well-built homes can save resources, by ensuring people live healthily and well. “There is a lot of consensus that [good design has] environmental value, social value and economic value,” she says.
In Hackney, the award-winning renovation of the King’s Crescent estate was led by the council’s in-house architect, Ken Rorrison. Three new towers were built and existing properties were upgraded: ground-floor garages and winter gardens were converted into new flats. Underpasses where residents felt unsafe were eliminated, and three new courtyards for communal use were built. Making all homes the same, whether they are social or private housing, has also been important, says Rorrison, even down to using the same materials. This has not always been a given; until recently, social tenants could be forced to use separate entrances, and their children could be excluded from communal play areas, although the Greater London Authority has now banned this practice.
“Everybody benefits from decent space standards, good ceiling heights, high levels of daylight, usable public spaces, and that balance of privacy and communality,” says Rorrison. “That’s universal and isn’t about whether someone’s a social tenant or private tenant.”
Abigail Batchelor, an associate at architects Karakusevic Carson, says she starts every new project by taking a walking tour with locals. She finds people love older social homes. “They’re very bright, they’ve got good balconies, they’re really well lit and they have generous space.”
The issues residents raise with her are more often about the journey from the street to their front door, with routes that don’t support safe walking and cycling, unwelcoming communal spaces, and landscaping that doesn’t prioritise health and wellbeing. By learning from the mistakes of the past, she adds, good design can help create good communities for years to come.
