A government advisory body has been urged to play a central role in ensuring homes constructed for the government’s £60,000 house initiative meet high design standards.

A report from the ODPM select committee asked the government’s Commission on Architecture and the Built Environment to monitor “very carefully the design quality of the new housing, particularly those built using off-site manufacturing”.

The MPs said their concerns were based on the experience of when “prefabrication was last used on a large scale in the 1960s”.

The report said design should not be overlooked for financial reasons. It said: “The government’s initiative to create a model £60,000 house may secure low-cost housing. However, while price is very important, it should not be at the cost of creating poorly designed homes that will not last, leading to the need for redevelopment within a short time.”

Source

Housing Today