Plans to set out clear planning guidance after interest from developers

Chelmsford City Council is set to tighten planning guidance to accommodate a new style of shared housing after revealing it has received interest from developers. Co-Living housing, defined as large-scale purpose-built shared living, is a relatively new form of housing which is not specifically defined as a separate housing category in national planning policy or guidance.

It usually comprises large buildings containing private individual rooms supported by communal facilities and facilities for shared dining, recreation, day-to-day servicing and often workspaces. Due to their scale, co-living is not considered as Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs), or a hotel as they tend to have a minimum three-month tenancy, or a residential institution as there no training or care provided.

The council has said there has been one pre-application enquiry in Chelmsford. However, because co-living is not self-contained housing and does not fit into other residential use classes, existing planning policies and standards may not apply to development proposals.

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This includes minimum internal space standards. It has led to Chelmsford City Council agreeing to putting out the Co-Living Housing Planning Advice Note for public consultation.

Jeremy Potter, head of planning at Chelmsford City Council said: “This isn't completely the vacuum. We have had inquiries from operators that has gone through pre-application processes and I suppose that has created the understanding that we have a bit of a vacuum and we just wanted to ensure that we as I said set out some at least some minimum criteria.

“For example as it stands you know operators would say they don’t need to have affordable housing or contribution to which we think is wrong. Because our affordable housing policy talks about residential units not dwellings very purposefully.

“So we just want to make sure that we set out some of those principles to ensure that we are not faced with having to deal with a planning application with no guidance or policies or benchmarks and to leave the planning committee in a situation where it is in a complete vacuum of guidance or policy.”

According to Savills co-living schemes are seen as a way to tackle the housing crisis “offering shared affordable, high quality accommodation, predominantly for 18 to 40-year-olds, with fully furnished private living units, communal areas and often flexible working space”.

This type of accommodation has been promoted in large cities such as London and Brighton where there is an economic and demographic demand.