Standard home plans that meet the Corporation's new Design and Quality Standards (2008)

Plans that meet Housing Corporation standards are termed 'plan compliant'.  As organisations submit plans and are approved, they will be listed here with links to their websites.

The plans will detail HQI scores for Unit Size and Unit Layout, based on information supplied by developers and designers at the time of assessment. Users should carry out their own HQI assessments based on the specification details to be used on their schemes.

What does ’plan compliance’ mean?

The Housing Corporation is prepared to check the acceptability of standard house and flat layouts against our own minimum requirements. Where we consider such layouts to be acceptable, we will provide a listing on our website, and the plans are termed 'plan compliant'.

We will offer ‘plan compliance’ at our discretion - we reserve the right to withhold or withdraw plan compliance and the right to display the "plan compliant" logo.

Where compliant plans are used, the individual internal unit layouts will be deemed to satisfy the spatial and layout aspects of the Design and quality standards for audit purposes.  They do not purport to satisfy any other aspects.

What are the criteria considered for plan compliance?

Plan compliance certifies that home plans accord with the minimum requirements as set out in the Corporation's Design and Quality Standards in respect of dwelling size and layout only (HQI unit size and unit layout):

• the internal plan arrangement is considered only; 
• General Needs Family Homes must achieve Housing Quality Indicators scores for Unit Size and Unit Layout of at least 41% and 32% respectively on individual units. However, where only the minimum is achieved we will want to understand why this score is not higher before considering plan compliance; 
• no account is taken of specification. However, our assumption is that there will be no significant difference between private sector and social sector quality specifications; 
• no account is taken of orientation, external appearance or other such features.

What is the purpose of Plan compliance?

Plan compliance fits with our vision of bringing developers & housebuilders, system suppliers and housing associations closer together. There is potential for mutual benefit to housing associations and housebuilders in negotiating Section 106 agreements on a common basis.

It also creates opportunities for increased continuity and volume of housing systems and sub-assemblies, assisting suppliers of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC).

Is there a definitive list of home plans?

The list above represents the latest update of house plans that have been accepted as plan compliant. As new plans are accepted they will be added to the list, and notification of updates will be published on our website.

How can Housing Corporation plan compliance be obtained?

1. Check out your own plans against the requirements of the Coroporation's Design and Quality Standards; the National Housing Federation’s Standards and Quality in Development will help. The Corporation has developed a stand alone calculator to help asssess size and layout. Please refer to the HQI calculator 2008-11 page for information, guidance and the calculator itself.

2. Submit a copy of dimensioned scale plan drawings (1:50 scale), with furniture layouts and turning circles shown and the HQI calculation sheets, to:

Design and Quality team
Investment Directorate
Housing Corporation
Maple House
149 Tottenham Court Road
London W1T 7BN

Ensure that the internal gross floor area is clearly stated on the drawings. Ensure that Housing Quality Indicator profiles for Unit Size and Unit Layout have been calculated properly and stated. Please refer to the HQI Form V4 (this is a PDF file).

State the name (e.g. 'The Compton') or reference (e.g. HXX123) attributed to each individual layout so that it can be easily distinguished from similar layouts from other sources.

3. If accepted as compliant, we will require a Microsoft Powerpoint (.ppt) file showing the layouts on CD.

4. In order to obtain plan compliance you will need to be able to provide a dedicated plan compliance web page and direct link showing solely approved plans.  The Corporation reserves the right to withdraw plan compliance if the plans are amended without the Corporation's consent or the plans are displayed contrary to requirements.

Plans that have achieved compliance

The following links will open in a new window.

These companies have prepared house types that have been approved by the Housing Corporation as plan compliant:

• Browne Smith Baker www.brownesmithbaker.com
• DAC International Inc. www.DAC.ca
• DJD Architects  www.djdarchitects.co.uk
• HTA Architects Ltd.  www.hta.co.uk/barrattaffordablehomerange.html

Plans that previously achieved plan compliance

Plans that received plan compliance for the past standards have been removed and use of the logo is no longer appropriate.  Organisations may wish to resubmit plans for approval for plan compliance with the new Design and Quality Standards.

Feedback/comments

Any comments or feedback on the house plans displayed should be directed to Lesley Banfield, Design and Quality Manager lesley.banfield@housingcorp.gsx.gov.uk. If your comments are in respect of a specific layout, please include the name of the housebuilder and name of house layout or reference.