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  • HPH188 : What are Paragraph 80 builds and how do they work? – with Richard Hawkes from Hawkes Architecture

    HPH188 : What are Paragraph 80 builds and how do they work? – with Richard Hawkes from Hawkes Architecture

    Richard Hawkes from Hawkes Architecture tells us about the exceptional circumstances in which planning for rural new builds may be granted.

    *Since recording this podcast, the government has updated the National Planning Policy Framework. ‘Paragraph 55’ (or ‘Para 55’) policy changed in name to ‘Paragraph 79’ and then ‘Paragraph 80′, although the content remains largely unchanged. * 

    We have amended the show notes but the interview will still talk about Paragraph 55.

    Interview with Richard Hawkes

    Richard Hawkes’ self-build, Crossway, helped launch his own practice Hawkes Architecture nine years ago. Before that he worked at a large commercial practice in London.

    As planning is rarely granted for new rural homes, Richard had to learn what circumstances were considered exceptions. His expertise then led to work gaining planning consent for others in similar circumstances. Nowadays Richard even sits on a Design Review Panel, made up of professionals including landscape architects and engineers, that advises planners whether or not a proposal is meeting policy.

    Crossway

    Planning policy allows rural development in exceptional circumstances

    Paragraph 79 has four special circumstances that can permit a new dwelling in the countryside:

    1. An agricultural worker’s dwelling. It’s quite difficult to create a business case for these so they don’t happen very often.
    2. Re-use of a heritage asset, e.g. saving a listed building.
    3. Re-use of redundant farm buildings. Relaxation of permitted development legislation has made this moot for now.
    4. If the dwelling is of exceptional quality or innovative in its nature of design. All of Richard’s Paragraph 79 projects fall into this last category.

    Four tests determine if a design is sufficiently exceptional

    For a dwelling to be of exceptional quality or innovative in its nature of design, it has to pass all of these tests:

    • Help to raise the standards of design more generally in rural areas
    • Be of the highest standards in architecture
    • Significantly enhance the immediate setting
    • Be sensitive to the defining characteristics of the local area
    Hawkhurst

    Paragraph 79 is an important design-led policy

    Since Planning’s introduction in 1946, there has been a reluctance to approve new homes in the countryside. Green Belt, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), Heritage Coast and other designations evidence this. Even Paragraph 79, which Richard describes as a piece of national policy originally introduced in 1997 to enable landowners to get permission for their “English country house”, states that planning authorities should generally seek to resist new dwellings.

    In 2003 the Labour government sought to get rid of (then) Paragraph 55 which they felt was an elitist policy, but were lobbied by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) who argued the policy would move forward dwelling design. As a result, the policy evolved into PPS 7, Paragraph 11 and actually used the term ‘contemporary architecture’.

    The policy recognises the mediocrity of typical dwelling design, and has a practical significance in terms of architects’ professional development. It encourages them to learn how to respond to a setting and produce amazing buildings. Richard explains that the principles of good design can be looked at entirely objectively, even if people’s responses to design are inherently subjective.

    Sustainability must be factored into the design

    A beautiful house isn’t enough. A house of the highest standards in architecture will incorporate lots of insulation, heat recovery ventilation, triple-glazing, and passive solar gain. Richard describes these Passivhaus principles as just sensible design and something planners would expect to see in a Paragraph 79 scheme, not reasons why they would grant consent.

    The nature of the site and its management will often tie in to the energy strategy they develop for each individual building.

    West Pearroc

    There are different types of Paragraph 79 house

    Some locations suit a contrasting building, like an English country house. Richard describes this as unapologetically “dominating its landscape. Enhancing it but very much in contrast to it.”

    Conversely, one of his own Paragraph 79 houses on a Green Belt / AONB site needed to show sensitivity to the defining characteristics of the local area and significantly enhance the immediate setting. His architecture enhanced the farmstead by reinforcing the positive qualities of stable buildings on the site while removing other buildings that were “detractors”.

    Likelihood of planning consent must first be weighed up

    Richard’s team must first establish whether the site has the right ingredients to get a planning consent. He uses the analogy of a set of weighing scales, and there are several factors weighing down the ‘wrong side’:

    • You’re not allowed to build a house in the open countryside.
    • In Green Belt, there is the principle of openness. If the site has other buildings on it, you can potentially look at “consolidating building form” as a strategy. If there are no buildings there at all, it becomes very difficult.
    • AONB are protected by National Policy. It is possible, but more complex as these are highly protected pieces of land.
    • If it’s a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) or on top of a hill, any development is likely to have a big visual impact.

    No one can guarantee planning consent, so Richard tries to manage that risk. To “balance the scales” he carries out a rigorous analysis of local and national policy to find benefits that could come with a scheme.

    The landscape and architecture have to work together

    Assuming there’s a robust enough case to proceed, Paragraph 79 applications are not for the faint-hearted; they represent a big investment on the client’s part and are about the land as much as the house. It takes months before Richard will even know what they’re designing.

    Time is spent with landscape architects and commissioning reports and surveys to adequately understand the ecology, biodiversity and resources of the site. This long process uncovers minute details about animals, sun, prevailing wind direction, climate and geology.

    Richard explains that involving a landscape architect right at the start helps them to lay down some rules about the site: sensitivities to avoid and opportunities to embrace. The ‘master plan’ is holistic and everything included in the plan can be justified.

    Examples of ways to enhance the landscape might include:

    • Binding the site together with areas of woodland
    • Linking habitats
    • Bolstering woodland edge
    • Introducing wildflower areas and a proper mowing regime to increase biodiversity
    • Putting management plans in place
    Flight Farm

    Designs reflect a rigorous understanding of the site and client

    The practice’s design framework originates from Richard’s self-build experience. He developed the design for Crossway using two distinct, parallel processes. Firstly, responding to the client (his wife) meant considering the “mechanics of a plan”. These are things like securing the best views, ensuring low running costs, opening up the house to the south, etc. A client lifestyle analysis is done, including everything from what time they wake up to how often they entertain.

    The other process is analysing how the landscape changes as you approach the plot from different directions, to determine what the house needs to do sculpturally to respond to each of the views. This was something Richard did intuitively with his piece of land: “For me, the context of any site has got rich things for you to respond to. You’ve just got to find them.”

    The design then emerges from these two processes. Crossway’s distinctive arch grew from a desire for the house to sit in amongst the ecology and the biodiversity of the land. And the design for one client project interpreted the qualities of the local flint to respond to the “defining characteristics of the local area”; the building is sharp and crisp outside, like the inside of flint but the white, soft-flowing curves of the courtyard evoke the outside of the stone.

    Crossway

    We need to keep pushing house design forward

    As well as acting as a good training mechanism for architects, Richard has a philosophical argument for protecting Paragraph 79. “If the policy weren’t there, I’d find that quite a sad reflection on where we are with design, where we are as a country with architecture. Look at all these houses going up with no aspirational policy there. I’d find that quite a sad place to be and quite short-sighted.”

    Find out more

    Visit the website of Hawkes Architecture

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    Transcript

    Download a transcript of the interview with Richard Hawkes

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  • HPH159 : What it took to find my plot of land – with Ben Adam-Smith

    HPH159 : What it took to find my plot of land – with Ben Adam-Smith

    Ben Adam-Smith comes clean with his project progress! After two and a half years of looking, he has finally managed to buy a plot of land upon which to build his eco home. However, the process of buying the land was perhaps not the joyous occasion he would have liked. In this solo episode he shares what he’s learnt.

    Ben Adam-Smith’s plot-finding journey

    The idea of building an energy-efficient home came about in 2012. The first two years I devoted to learning in the hope that I would avoid any major pitfalls. Then the real work began. This was, of course, when I realised that finding a suitable plot in the South East of England was exactly what everyone was trying to do!

    A number of times I have updated you on my plot hunt, but each time I seemed to lose out. So much so, that I had very little to show when I reached my 40th birthday midway through 2016 (which was my original self-imposed deadline for completing the whole build!).

    2016 was also a ‘make or break’ year because my wife and I planned to expand our family, and so we’d need a bigger home one way or another. If we couldn’t find a suitable plot we would have been buying a new house, and at that stage not wanting to move again for awhile.

    Be careful with sliding budgets

    When I started this journey I genuinely thought that the equity in my current house would be enough to cover a large amount of the land and new home I wanted to build.

    However, there are few plots that come onto the market at the lower end and when they do, they are either snapped up or there is something so wrong with them that everyone avoids them like the plague!

    This led to us spending far more on land than we ever planned. Hopefully this is not something we’ll later regret.

     

    Buying land seems a lot more complex than buying a house!

    I have bought a number of houses over the years and don’t remember any great difficulties that have arisen during the process.

    On the other hand, the vast majority of the plots we looked at had all sorts of things going on behind the scenes. What’s more, there was little transparency in bringing these to the buyer’s attention. And of course you can’t leave this work to the solicitor because at that stage you are already going through the motions.

    Therefore you need to carry out your own investigation and assess any levels of risk.

    Only one part of the plot is within the village boundary

    Neighbours are a value source of information

    I have said it before and I’ll say it again – neighbours have an unrivalled grasp on the local area.

    A number of times – whether over flooding risks, private roads with no owners, etc. – I’ve had a gut feeling that there’s something the seller is not disclosing. While no single neighbour has the complete picture they can fill in parts of it. Even if there is a conflict of information, it gives you a focus.

    I think, without exception, everybody I have spoken to has been helpful.

    Assess the pros and cons of the site

    Compared to a number of other sites we’d looked at, this plot scored highly on many counts.

    It was central in a village and within walking distance of pubs, a shop and the local primary school.

    At half an acre, it was actually bigger than many of the plots we’d looked at and would allow for a garden. Part of the reason for this is that the majority of the plot is on green belt land, which would not be of interest to developers, and therefore we did not perhaps face as much competition as with previous sites.

    The site also benefits from having full planning permission for a sizeable dwelling.

    On the downside it was expensive and was definitely right on the edge of what we could afford.

    There is also a line of conifers to the south of the plot (which we do not own) and while good for privacy it blocks out a lot of the low winter sunshine.

    And as the building plot is close to existing buildings there are constraints with the ridge height for part of the roof, and overlooking issues.

    Expect a few sleepless nights

    I had a lot of issues with fear. I was spending more money than I’ve ever spent in my life. You obviously do your best but it’s so difficult to tell if there are still issues lurking somewhere!

    There was also the big shift in my financial situation. I would be reducing my assets and income, and creating a liability. The reality of moving from a comfortable position to less comfortable one was and is scary!

     A line of conifers cut out winter sunshine

    Self-builders invariably become attached to the land they’re bidding on

    This is a huge disadvantage because you may make different decisions compared to buying an investment asset, for example.

    If you can keep some distance in the process then you will be doing yourself a favour.

    The land equation exists for a reason. Operating outside it will leave you losing money when you come to sell.

    I’m not sure I did a great job on this point, particularly when I discovered that this plot was part of a farm one of my ancestors once owned.

    Make sure your solicitor does not delegate to a junior member

    We’d developed a relationship with our solicitor before we hired her, but what we didn’t realise is we wouldn’t be dealing with a different person! It was handed onto a junior member and this became apparent through the process.

    As the transaction was time bound – which is something you should try to avoid if at all possible – the senior solicitor had to take over towards the end of the process.

    Have cash available for exchange and completion

    Don’t use cheques! This was a lesson we learnt the hard way.

    We technically had the money, but didn’t have the money sitting and waiting in our account (as we’d previously been advised by people like Mark Brinkley!). So the process of transferring from one place to another would take 10 days to clear by cheque. Needless to say, this was too long. That meant having to cancel cheques and redirect funds via CHAPS, which is what we should have done in the first place.

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  • Do ‘Garden Cities’ Just Become ‘Cities’ Over Time?

    Although I live a few miles away from one of Ebenezer Howards’s garden cities, Welwyn Garden City, I confess to knowing very little about the garden cities movement. I’ve heard the term crop up from time to time, even at the beginning of this year as a re-visited housing strategy, but I haven’t taken the time to find out more. That’s why I’ve been doing some research on it for this post. In light of some of the recent subjects we’ve been discussing on the podcast, it’s also made me wonder whether garden cities eventually just become cities!

    First, let’s look at some of the fundamentals of garden cities and consider Ebenezer Howard’s vision.

    portrait eh

    Ebenezer Howard’s Self-Contained Cities

    Ebenezer Howard was a reformist who sought to provide an alternative to the overcrowded cities (where standards were deteriorating) by creating self-contained communities, each surrounded by green belt land. He wanted a place that balanced housing, industry and agriculture, finding a middle ground between town and country, and enjoying the benefits of each without the disadvantages. Community was at the heart of this, with a co-operative approach envisaged for land ownership and food grown on the surrounding fields. Howard also proposed that satellite cities would surround a larger city (as in the plan below).

    garden-city-plans-1

    It’s interesting to note that Howard had limited practical experience but nonetheless managed to plan and realise two cities in Hertfordshire, UK. His ideas were documented in the publication ‘To-morrow: a Peaceful Path to Real Reform’ in 1898 and were later revised for ‘Garden Cities of To-morrow’. Making it a reality on the ground was a massive challenge. In 1899, with backing from wealthy investors, construction of Letchworth Garden City began. Some of Howard’s ideals had to be comprised, as investors sought to profit from the new town whereas Howard had proposed a much more egalitarian society.

    For his second garden city, about 20 years later, Howard bought the land himself. Welwyn Garden City would benefit from the experienced gained in Letchworth.

     

    Garden Cities Are Still Great Places to Live

    Creating a city from scratch is quite a responsibility. As I think about Welwyn Garden City nearly 100 years after it was conceived, there is no doubt it is desirable. A magnificent boulevard is still a striking feature. Trees line the roads. The grass verges are wider than perhaps they needed to be and there is space. I personally feel this ‘connection with something green‘ is vital in all our lives but I can see the flip side of the coin. Critics of garden cities suggest that low density housing wastes land and invariably forces us into our cars. In an energy-constrained future, we need sustainable urban spaces. Striking that balance is difficult.

     

    Maintaining The Population of a Town is a Challenge

    I have questions about whether you can maintain the size of a town or city in this current cycle of growth. Yes, we cannot keep on multiplying as a species indefinitely, as the planet does not have the resources, but where does that leave us with creating great places to live? If there is an optimum amount of people for a town or city – as Howard proposed in his garden cities with 32,000 per satellite city – there will come a time when the city is full. The only way to maintain this population would be to police it. Construction would have to stop or only replace like for like (in terms of capacity). As far as I’m aware we’re not doing that.

     

    Part of Howard’s vision was to start the next city at this point anyway. As these new cities are not on the cards, what happens to the population of existing garden city? Is a green belt only a protected area until more land is needed? My experience is that towns keeping growing. If the green belt is respected then old houses get removed in favour of new higher density housing. Gardens get split in half and have a new house at the other end. Over time this must have an impact.

     

    Where Does That Leave us Today?

    We have to set our targets high, like Howard did with his Utopian dream, when we are planning places to live. In an energy-constrained future, the vision of our cities – particularly if starting from scratch – is more important than ever. Sustainable urban systems are essential as the greatest impact on the natural environment is made, ironically, in our cities. Although this self sufficiency did not happen in Howard’s two garden cities, perhaps it’s becoming a much more relevant idea once again. If travel becomes a luxury, working where we live or remotely via the Internet would increase. We’d also need to cater for the products that we used to import from the other side of the world.

     

    Could Self Build Communities be The Modern Garden Cities?

    The more I consider the self build market, the more I like it. Self build communities seem to encapsulate the passion that Ebenezer Howard had for planning better places to live, the only difference being that everyone has an input once the master planning has been done. Not only are houses likely to be built to a better overall standard, but they are bespoke to the individual’s needs and this whole construction process creates bonds in the community. It seems possible that this is the natural progression of the garden city model.

     

    Is the garden city movement something that is still relevant today? How do we create sustainable urban areas?

  • HPH006 : How to Save Money When Buying Land – with Ted Stevens of NaSBA

    HPH006 : How to Save Money When Buying Land – with Ted Stevens of NaSBA

    Ted Stevens, Chairman of the National Self Build Association in the UK, gives his advice on how to find a good plot of land at a reasonable price. Plus, why Almere in Holland could be a blueprint for other large scale self build developments across the world.

     

    Interview with Ted Stevens

    Ted details how he became interested in construction at an early age, inspired by his technical drawing teacher at school. After running a student newspaper at university he then got a job at an architect’s magazine called Planning, before setting up his own marketing company. When an opportunity arose to sell his business and take early retirement, he seized it. However, the retirement didn’t follow! Over the years he’s renovated a few properties, but between 2004 and 2005 he built his own house and soon after that, he got a call from a friend who wanted him to oversee the publishing of Build It magazine. It was during this time that Ted realised nobody was championing the self build industry in the UK, which was when he got together with other key figures from the industry and the National Self Build Association was born.

     

    The Self Build Market is Small in The UK

    Ted reels off an amazing fact about the UK market: only 10% of new homes are built using various forms of self build. In most other developed countries that figure is between 30-50%. Ted explains that the process used to be simple and that you’d buy land from the local farmer and build your house. However, due to being slightly more populated and having slightly less land, this has gradually changed. The UK is also unusual when compared to its European neighbours, in that it has big national house building companies filling the space where the self builders might be.

     

    The Government is Keen to Diversify UK Housing Market

    The then Housing Minister Grant Shapps was shocked by this data and wanted to see much more self build delivered in the UK, perhaps increasing to 20% or more. This would mean that there wouldn’t be such a dependency on the national house building companies and it would also add variety to the new housing stock as self builders will have very different agendas (no shareholders to satisfy, etc.).

     

    Self Builders Don’t Tend to Move!

    With self build you put more in, but you also get more out. Ted highlights the fact that home owners move on average once every 6 years. Conversely, self builders move on average once every 25 years! It’s partly because or the blood, sweat and tears along the way and partly because you have a place that is purpose built to you – there is nothing else on the open market that meets these needs.

     

    ‘Self Build’ is a Misnomer

    Self build is not a great term to use as only 15% of people put one brick on top of the other. 85% take another route and they hire:

    • A kit home company. All they normally have to do is organise the concrete slab underneath.
    • An architect and builder.
    • The brick-layers, electricians, plumbers, etc. and they project manage them.
    • Professionals to do some of the work, while they do the rest.
    ‘Custom build’ is a term that better describes what most people do – you are commissioning and procuring a home custom built to you.

     

    Spend 3 Years Planning and Then 6-9 Months Building

    Ted likes the advice that Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud gives: spend 3 years building up your knowledge of exactly what you’re going to do and then nothing will go wrong and it will be built in 6-9 months. Doing it the other way around, with only three months of planning, it might take 3 years to build and cost twice as much! So preparation is everything.

    1. Go to see other self build projects
    2. Visit the exhibitions
    3. Read the self build books and magazines
    4. Do research on the internet
    5. Get advice from people who have been there and done it

     

    If Land Has Been Advertised, Expect to Pay More

    The easiest thing to do is sign up to a plot finding website. Unfortunately, you will then be in direct competition with the other people signed up to the service and inevitably the land will go to the highest bidder. The same is even true if you see land advertised by your local estate agent or in a local newspaper. Thus you need to be more innovative in your approach if you want to pick up a bargain.

     

    Be a Detective and Discover a Plot of Land!

    Ted looked at over 100 plots when he built his home. He says 90 of them were not places in which he wanted to live – they were next to railways, sewage farms etc. Ted reiterates that it’s very easy to find a rubbish plot that nobody wants! His strategy for buying land at a good price is to find it yourself.

    • Decide where you want to live. Narrow it down to a particular area or village, etc.
    • Order up a giant scale map of that area. In the UK, the Ordnance Survey maps cost about £75 each and are 2 metres by 2 metres, but they have every detail. Google Earth may work just as well.
    • Look at the map and work out where there might be a bit of land at the back of somebody’s house. Check out these areas on foot. If a large garden is overgrown, perhaps the owner is struggling to keep it up and may be willing to sell it to you? Don’t be afraid to knock on doors – they will probably say no but you’ll never know unless you try.
    It’s also worth posting up on Facebook that you’re looking for land in a particular area. Your friends or relatives, or people that they know, might be able to help you.


    The Self Build Portal

    The National Self Build Association has set up a website to help self builders in the UK. If you’re starting out, it’s got an interactive game that allows you to juggle the numbers and figure out what you can afford to buy at a particular location. The Self Build Portal is packed full of information and advice to help any would-be self builder.

     

    Green Belt vs Brown Field Sites

    Generally speaking, although there are plenty of exceptions to the rule, if a site has been built on before it is far easier to get permission to build on it again. Whereas building on green belt land, an area of outstanding natural beauty or a national park will be near impossible.

    Also be aware of defining boundaries. For example, villages and rural areas normally have, in planning terms, a red line drawn around them. If you purchase land outside these markers you will probably struggle to get planning permission. You can ask your local planning office for more information.

    Quite a popular route these days is to find a small bungalow or chalet that is falling apart and then you may be able to negotiate with planners about knocking it down and building a slightly bigger, new house.

     

    Almere in Holland – a Blueprint For Self Build Communities?

    Ted talks about an innovative project in Holland, where they are building an extension to the town of Almere. It will take 3000 new self build homes when complete, but midway through the development it is already regarded as architecturally diverse and a vibrant place to live. By doing a lot of planning upfront, the councillors were able to create a quick and easy process, with very few rules. Plots were divided up and priced on a proportional scale according to the amount of land required. Where planning permission had taken between 3-6 months, the turnaround was reduced to 3 days!  The key point is that they trusted the self builders not to create eyesores and the results speak for themselves.

     

    Self Build Towns Could Be The New Wave of Garden Cities

    People can be quite negative about planners, but good planners are some of the most visionary people going. A century ago it was planners (Sir Ebenezer Howard) who came up with the idea of garden cities. Welwyn Garden City and Letchworth were seen as both innovative and scary at the time. Nearly a century on and they are fantastic places to live. Could a self build development, like Almere, be exactly where we should be heading in the 21st century? Also, the bonus of self builders constructing their own town is that they are not just building a house but a community. They know their neighbours and they get on famously. They also play their part in delivering the services for the area and deciding where the amenities will be, etc.

     

    Ted’s Top Three Tips For Tackling a Custom Build Project

    1. Increase your knowledge by reading books from the people who have done it. Also visit as many self build projects as possible.
    2. Don’t expect it to happen overnight. It can be mentally and physically draining. Expect to make lots of decisions.
    3. Be innovative when it comes to finding and buying land as it can save you a lot of money. Be a detective!

     

    Transcript

    Download a transcript of the interview with Ted Stevens.

     

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