It is a tool that can be used in the design and planning process, but goes further and is more regulatory than other forms of guidance commonly used in the English planning system over recent decades.
It can be thought of as a process and document – and therefore a mechanism – which operationalises design guidelines or standards which have been established through a masterplan process.
In this way a design code may be a tool which helps ensure that the aspirations for quality and quantity for housing developments, particularly for large-scale projects, sought by the Government and other agencies are actually realised in the final schemes.
It has the potential to deliver the consistency in quality exposed as lacking by CABE’s Housing Audit (2004).
Examples of developments where design codes are being used include: