Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)

My Lords, I shall speak to Amendment 91 in my name, which would insert a new subsection in Clause 52, “Spatial development strategies”, which amends the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. According to the House of Commons Library paper on the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, LURB was meant to introduce “a statutory requirement for LPAs to prepare design codes, in which they set out design requirements for developments in their area”, but this has not been commenced. At the moment, there is no requirement for a spatial development strategy that specifies an amount or distribution of housing or affordable housing to include a design code for the specified housing development. This seemed an opportune moment to kick-start this part of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 into process. In Committee, I shared Churchill’s quote: “We shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us”.—[Official Report, Commons, 28/10/1943; col. 403.] Design is so important. Buildings can be beautiful or ugly; they can enhance communities or destroy them. We need quality homes that are sustainable and that, in 200 or 300 years, people will still think are beautiful. Thus, upholding architectural standards and considering aesthetic standards is essential. Our environment has a dramatic impact on our lives, affecting our outlook, our well-being and, most importantly, our mental and general health. This amendment seeks to rectify these issues by including a design vision into the spatial development strategy. It is vital for high-quality design to be prioritised in the strategic planning process to ensure that new developments meet the practical and visual needs of residents and enhance communities. The noble Lord, Lord Carlile, stated in Committee that, “National planning policy already makes it clear that poor-quality design should not be allowed. Yet the general quality and design standard of much volume housebuilding in this country continues to be poor”.—[Official Report, 9/9/25; col. 1328.] While there was lots of discussion about the variety of initiatives and more reviews to come, the Government failed to give an adequate response in Committee on why this section of the LURB has not yet been commenced.