Building to low EMF & healthy home principles : An introduction
Each year, thousands of new homes and neighbourhoods in England are being built. With problems arising through substandard builds, people are beginning to understand the correlation with poor mental and physical health.
A review by the Campaign to Protect Rural England and Place Alliance of 142 developments in England built by large volume housebuilders, published in January 2020, found that 75% of them were mediocre or poor design.
Additionally, if judged against the government's National Planning Policy Framework, one in five of these schemes should have been refused planning permission. It is the communities who suffer.
What are the healthy homes principles?
In short, the healthy homes principles are principles which will act as a foundation for decision-making about new housing. There is currently no single agreed definition or set of principles about what constitutes a healthy home, so the meaning was set out in the bill.
In short, the 12 healthy homes principles for all new homes are:
· Must be safe from fire risk
· Must have as a minimum the inhabitable space required to meet the needs of occupants over their entire lives
· Must have natural light in all main rooms
·All new homes must secure radical reductions in carbon emissions in line with the provisions of the Climate Change Act 2008
· Must have inclusive, accessible and adaptable surroundings
· Must be in areas with access to sustainable transport and a walkable distance from services and green spaces
· Must be designed to achieve significant reductions in carbon emissions
· Must be built with inherent resilience to climate change
· Must be secure and designed to prevent crime
· Must be free from excessive noise and light pollution
· Must minimise and not contribute to unsafe levels of indoor or ambient pollution
· Must provide appropriate heating for year-round occupation
What is the healthy home bill?
Introduced by Lord Crisp, who is a cross-bench peer and also an ex-Chief Executive of the NHS, it is a legalisation that acts as a safeguard for the new homes being built today.
With the 11 founding principles of the bill, the hope is to create low EMF (Electric & Magnetic Fields) properties and offer a healthier way of owning a house in the future.
The TCPA hopes to make this legally binding on developers and planning committees, but as yet it is currently passing through the various stages it needs to, in order to enter the Commons to be passed by law.
Anti-allergy credentials
Having certified asthma and allergy friendly products is a great way of demonstrating that housing developers really care about the welfare of those seeking to buy or rent.
We breathe 2 gallons of air per minute, which equates to 3400 gallons of air each day. It is therefore easy to see why creating the right environment that is safe for people in the market is crucial for the future, so that problems or potential problems, can be lessened.
Building a safe home isn't just important, it is essential.
Have a look at our own property launch
We recently sold this property, in the village of Croscombe, near Wells. This is a newly built home with lots of healthy home features, to give you an idea of what more healthy homes of the future could look like.
Our involvement
We are recognising a higher demand for properties with these qualities and considerations. We are keen to see the improvements in build quality and value the impact healthy homes can have on peoples lives. We love to work with developers who also value this approach and intend to run a series of blogs on how these standards can be achieved.
