Will the Minister provide the evidence basis for the floor areas stipulated in the Welsh Development Quality Requirements 2021?
Housing is a key priority for Welsh Government. It is recognised that living well in a good quality home brings a wide range of benefits supporting the government’s wider agenda for improving outcomes in health, wellbeing and prosperity and the need to transition to net zero.
We want everyone to live in a good quality home that meets people’s needs and supports a healthy, successful, and prosperous life. Good quality, inclusive and accessible homes are the bedrock of communities and form the basis for individuals and families to flourish in all aspects of their lives.
Housing space standards can be traced back over a century as the First World War ended. The UK Housing Act of 1935 defined minimum bedroom areas, but it was not until the 1960s that the UK saw the first set of comprehensive, evidence‒based ‘Parker Morris’ standards, probably still the best-known international housing space standard.
One of the key recommendations of the Independent Review of Affordable Housing Supply in 2019 was that Welsh Government should review Development Quality Requirements (DQR) and develop new consolidated and simplified standards which should concentrate on minimum space and storage. The review panel agreed “across the board” in maintaining space standards and in response, the “Welsh Development Quality Requirements 2021 – Creating Beautiful Homes & Places” (WDQR 2021) was launched July 2021.
The minimum floor areas prescribed within WDQR 2021 are based upon the original notional areas of “Pattern Book” plans, known to provide good quality family homes, updated to reflect the additional space requirements of modern day living. During the consultation preceding the launch of the standard, tenants referenced the importance of space within the home and the pandemic has reinforced the importance of living within a home with sufficient space for flexibility, privacy and dignity. Additionally, the engineering requirements of non-fossil fuel heating systems add further demands for space to accommodate and maintain electrical heating and ventilation equipment over and above the family’s everyday needs.
Officials are currently reviewing the WDQR 2021 quality standard and will address space requirements and floor areas during the review. However, it should be noted that officials are finding that most housing solutions presented for Social Housing Grant technical scrutiny are designed larger than the minimum requirements with very few schemes proving able to take advantage of the opportunity to reduce floor areas, suggesting that reducing areas may not be desirable or practicable. Officials will finalise the review of WDQR during 2023.