Interim edition of the Mayor of London's London Housing Design Guide

“These guidelines will raise the standard of living for thousands of Londoners, ensuring brighter and more spacious living conditions, particularly for the growing number of larger families." (Boris Johnson, Mayor of London) Following the launch of The Draft London Housing Design Guide in July 2009 at the London Housing Strategy Conference, a revised Interim Edition was published in August 2010. mae was commissioned by the London Development Agency (LDA) to work with them to develop the Guide, which simplifies the range of other housing design guidance, such as Lifetime Homes and Housing Quality Indicators. It will apply to all LDA land and HCA London-funded schemes from April 2011. mae reviewed over 300 existing housing design requirements. The resulting Guide has distilled the plethora of existing guidance into a more manageable set of key requirements. The guide is structured around 6 themes, taking in issues of delivering housing at appropriate densities, providing family housing, the importance of well proportioned streets, access to local transport, services and amenities; plus flexibility of space, daylighting and private open space. It sets minimum standards in a number of key areas including: internal space standards, balcony sizes, aspect, floor to ceiling heights, quantity of storage space, and the number of units sharing access. Closely aligned design standards are also being taken forward by the Mayor of London in the draft replacement London Plan and draft housing SPG. At time of writing the Guide has been included in the Scheme Development Standards for most London Social Housing Providers. Related publicity
Live web discussion about the London Housing Design Guide
BD Online, 27 August 2010 Design sidelined
 FT Weekend, House and Home supplement, 19 September 2009 New homes: size really does matter
Evening Standard, Homes and Property, 1 September 2009 Setting Standards 
Michael Howe writing in the Architects' Journal on the research behind the London Housing Design Guide, 30 July 2009 No room to cook dinner or seat guests? Welcome to 'rabbit hutch Britain'
Robert Booth, The Guardian, 11 August 2009 Boris Johnson calls for London homes to be 10% larger
Architects' Journal, 16 July 2009 Mayor sets minimum housing space limits
Building Design, 9 July 2009 London mayor pledges end to "hobbit homes"
Building magazine, 8 July 2009 Does London really need more housing restrictions?
Rowan Moore, Evening Standard, 8 July 2009