CPRE welcomes housing secretary Robert Jenrick’s brand-new building design guide launched today – a new standard to measure the quality of new homes that are built.

Too often, the new housing estates that we've seen go up in the countryside have been poor quality, both in terms of design and finish. However, the design guide needs to go further. We need to know that help will be given to local authorities to consistently achieve higher standards.

We are also facing a climate emergency so the promised new Future Homes Standard for energy efficiency must be introduced as soon as possible. Today, the minister reiterated a target to introduce the standard by 2025, but the skills and technology exist to implement this now and the planet cannot afford any further delay.