Coronavirus: Ventilation

(asked on 6th September 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of how the planning process can support the creation of properly ventilated indoor environments.


Answered by
Christopher Pincher Portrait
Christopher Pincher
This question was answered on 9th September 2021

There are strong protections in place in national planning policy to safeguard people from unacceptable risks from air pollution. These will be material considerations for a local council when determining a planning application, as will the planning concerns of the local community.

The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that planning policies and decisions should aim to promote healthy places, including by identifying opportunities to improve air quality. The planning guidance which supports the National Planning Policy Framework sets out further detail on how new development should take account of risks relating to air quality, including by using appropriate means of filtration and ventilation.

It is through the Part F of the Building Regulations that we set the minimum ventilation standards for new buildings or when work is done to an existing building. In the Government's Clean Air Strategy 2019, we committed to consulting on changes to standards in Part F (ventilation) of the Building Regulations. These consultations took place in the form of the Future Homes Standard and Future Buildings Standard consultations. We have reviewed the ventilation standards of the Building Regulations for new homes using the latest scientific evidence from Public Health England (PHE), details of which can be found in the Future Homes Standard consultation response.

We also consulted on ventilation standards for non-domestic buildings and for existing homes, the details of which can be found in the Future Buildings Standard consultation. The Future Buildings Standard consultation was launched on 19 January 2021 and closed on 13 April 2021. We will carefully consider the responses we receive in advance of regulating later this year.

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