Its report concluded that the quality of social housing needed to be improved to match the rise in living standards, and made a number of recommendations.
The report provided typical dimensions for the typical items of furniture for which the dwelling designer should allow space, and provided anthropometric data about the space needed to use and move about furniture.
The mandatory nature of the standards was ended by the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980, when the incoming Conservative government sought to reduce the cost of housing and, generally, public spending.
However, it is widely felt that most public and private sector housing being built in the 21st Century fails to meet the Parker Morris standards for floor and storage space, and this led to a decision in 2008 by the former government agency English Partnerships to re-introduce minimum standards that are 10% more generous than those of Parker Morris for developments on its own land.
[3] Subsequently, The Office of the Mayor of London has also opted to move to adopt a Design Guide for Housing within the city, which will be 10% more generous than the Parker Morris Standards.