ABSTRACT
There has been a steady demand for small 'starter homes' – both flats and houses – at 'affordable' prices. There is now a broad consensus that families with children should be housed at ground level in single-family houses, or in ground floor flats or ground and first floor maisonettes with direct entrances. Four-storey houses, however, are difficult to plan, because of the need for an alternative escape route from the upper floors. The enclosure of front and rear gardens to ground floor flats should be similar to that for single-family houses. The conversion of large houses into self-contained flats in the 1970s and 1980s used to be the stock-in-trade of inner city HAs, as well as private developers. Houses that are statutorily listed have more onerous constraints and require Listed Building Consent for any demolition. The private dwelling types include one-, two-, three-bedroom apartments, three-bedroom mews houses, three- and four-bedroom duplexes and four-storey townhouses.
