10 New Design Code Pathfinder areas
The Office for Place is funding and supporting 10 new areas in England as part of the Design Code Pathfinder Programme.
The Office for Place has selected 12 local authorities to become design code pathfinders in 2024-25. The areas will receive a share of £1 million, as well as support from the Office for Place, to produce exemplar design codes.
The focus of this new round of the Design Code Pathfinder Programme is two-fold; firstly, to evaluate the effectiveness and expand existing local authority design standards, in line with the National Model Design Code; and secondly, to generate new ‘theme-based’ design codes to demonstrate the range of potential uses and benefits.
Five local authorities have been selected to evaluate their existing design standards and the impact of them on increasing certainty in planning decision-making, and updating their design standards. These authorities are:
- Dacorum Borough Council
- South Kesteven District Council
- Thurrock Council
- Wakefield Council
- London Borough of Waltham Forest
The remaining 5 areas will produce new ‘theme-based’ exemplars, covering issues including how to develop a design code for a non-residential area; how design codes can be combined with a delivery mechanism (such as a Local Development Order) to bring forward development; and joint local authority design codes. These authorities are:
- Blackpool Council
- Hartlepool Borough Council
- Stoke-on-Trent City Council
- Stockport Council
- Tewkesbury Borough Council, Cheltenham Borough Council & Gloucester City Council
The design codes produced will be used as examples that communities across the country can draw on and the insights gained from the programme will be shared by the Office for Place to support local councils in producing their own design codes.
Further information
1. What is the Design Code Pathfinder Programme?
The National Model Design Code helps guide local councils and neighbourhood planning groups to set clear quality asks for their local area and covers issues such as street character, building heights and relationship to the street, design of public space, and encourages councils to consider the sustainability of new development.
The Design Code Pathfinder Programme, launched in 2021, provides learning and insights for all local councils and neighbourhood planning groups, based on the exemplar design standards developed by the pathfinder authorities, using the National Model Design Code.
See more information about some of the previous pathfinder areas and the insights from the programme.
2. Who are the local authorities who have been selected to be pathfinders?
The 12 local authorities selected to be new Design Code Pathfinders are:
- Dacorum Borough Council
- South Kesteven District Council
- Thurrock Council
- Wakefield Council
- London Borough of Waltham Forest
- Blackpool Council
- Hartlepool Borough Council
- Stoke-on-Trent City Council
- Stockport Council
- Tewkesbury Borough Council, Cheltenham Borough Council & Gloucester City Council
3. How were the local authorities chosen?
An expression of interest was launched in February 2024, asking local authorities with existing design standards that they wanted to update, to apply to become design code pathfinders. From those who applied, 5 local authorities were selected (Dacorum Borough Council, South Kesteven District Council, Thurrock Council, Wakefield Council and London Borough of Waltham Forest).
The other 5 pathfinders were selected from local authorities who are already working with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Homes England to build planning capacity and unlock development (Blackpool Council, Hartlepool Borough Council, Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Stockport Council and Tewkesbury, Cheltenham and Gloucester councils combined). The aim is to ensure that the new development in these priority areas has clear quality asks to ensure the creation of beautiful and popular places.
4. How much funding is each local area receiving?
The 5 pathfinders who are evaluating and updating existing design standards have each received £80,000. The 5 pathfinders who are creating new design codes, based upon themes, have each received £120,000. We expect participating local authorities to have produced a draft code by the end of March 2025.
5. What support are the pathfinders receiving?
In addition to the core funding, each pathfinder will receive a support package including dedicated advice from the Office for Place, access to technical expertise and peer-to-peer learning. The support package will be developed for each pathfinder area based on their own needs and learning from previous design code pathfinders. Learning and updates from the Design Code Pathfinder Programme will be made available on the Office for Place website.