Sustainable Building - Advice For Small Development Proposals Has Become More Affordable

In the UK the requirements to build sustainablerequirements were imposed on all new development
homes become more and more onerous. Proposalsproposals and the sector, both planning officers and
for medium and large development have beenconsultants, has now learned how to address the
subject to strict environmental and sustainabilitysustainability requirements of small development
requirements for some time now. However, recentlyproposals effectively. For instance the advice required
even planning applications for small development suchto submit an adequate energy statements is now
as single houses need to be accompanied with a raftstreamlined and standardized and the cost has come
of documentation, such as evidence that a certaindown from around £2000, to under
level of the Code for Sustainable Homes will be£300 for the smallest proposals.
achieved, an energy statement and a flood riskThe same is true for flood risk assessments. Where
assessment.the cost for the most basic advisory report in a low
The trouble is that most of the requirements haverisk area would be around £1500 a year ago,
been written with large development projects in mind.today it is possible to get a basic report for a one
The complexity of the matter makes buying inunit residential plot in a low flood risk area for under
specialist advice inevitable. The consultants that£500.
provide the advice are also used to dealing with largeI believe this is a good thing. For small development
developments. All this originally meant that the costproposals the cost for these supporting documents
of the advice required to prepare the supportingused to be out of proportion. At last it becomes
documents was out of sync with the size andpossible for promoters of small developments to build
complexity of the proposed development.highly sustainable buildings and obtain appropriate
It is now a few years since the first of theseadvice at an affordable price.