Necessity is key to driving a market, and a continued delivery of affordable housing not only responds to a major need, but is a valuable buoy to the fragile lower rungs of the property market which provide the keystone to the longevity of the UK house-building industry. For the construction industry, planners and local councils, affordable housing has become a vital ingredient - not just an opportunity.

As a partnered consultant with one of the UK’s largest Affordable Housing Constructors: Inspace Partnerships, and working with Places for People, RPS is nearing completion of the £35m Wolverton Park project which incorporates the latest renewable technology using solar water heating and wind turbines with a blend of new-build and historic restoration.

Working across a wide range of development within the Affordable Housing sector, RPS’ comprehensive experience in the field¹ covers not only affordable housing but also nursery and community buildings for sustainable community regeneration, and special needs and sheltered accommodation and facilities. With an ageing population, Extra Care schemes to deliver accommodation for the elderly which also provide communal facilities are a high profile focus and RPS design experts are currently finalising construction issue drawings for a project to provide forty-one self-contained residential units for the elderly with communal facilities in Hampton nr Richmond.

Since the launch of the Sustainable Communities Plan in 2003, there has been renewed interest in the potential of using Design Codes to deliver high quality urbanism, developing a collaborative mechanism which drives the operational functioning of the masterplan. A Code helps guide subsequent phases of development and enables factors such as affordable housing quality to be consistently addressed throughout the scheme.

RPS has developed and secured approval for the Old Park Farm Design Code for a mixed-use development in Hampshire. Working in close collaboration with developers Taylor Wimpey, local councils, and steering groups has been key to this success as well as the Code’s innovative use of variable edge types to define appropriate levels of density, built form and enclosure.

Chris Hancox, RPS Urban Design, says: “The Design Code was a condition of the outline planning permission and has established a consensus and widespread support for the emerging proposals. An collaborative process of design, negotiation and review helped to build a strong, inspiring design vision while ensuring a set of detailed and usable parameters that satisfied both local councils as well as the clients ability to deliver the new development.”

RPS has recently secured four-year framework agreements with Registered Social Landlords, Affinity Sutton, ASRA Greater London, Places for People, and Bromford Housing Group.

Contact:
Wolverton Park, and Hampton Extra Care scheme:
Ron Vernon
T: +44 (0) 1902 771 331
E: ron.vernon@rpsgroup.com

Old Park Farm Design Code:
Chris Hancox
T: + 44 (0) 1796 818110
E: hancoxc@rpsgroup.com

¹ Working to mandatory standards including Design & Quality Standards April 2007, Lifetime Homes, CABE Building for Life, Secured by Design, Code for Sustainable Homes and HQI’s.