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Secured by Design welcomes department for communities and local government proposals

Secured by Design firmly welcomes the Department for Communities and Local Government’s (DCLG) latest proposals for security standards in the Housing Standards Review consultation, published on 12th September. Secured by Design has been engaged in proactive discussions with the DCLG throughout the process, and these proposals reflect the views expressed across the academia, policing and the security industry. This positive step will ensure that all residents of new homes have good protection from crime at the outset.

The Housing Standards Review will support a boost in house building, and crucially, by ensuring that crime prevention remains a core feature of housing standards, the safety of residents will not be compromised. The DCLG rightly notes that implementing security standards is relatively inexpensive and does not place much burden on developers. Furthermore, the DCLG’s approach will help to mainstream crime prevention and foster the market for products meeting security standards which, in turn, will boost innovation.

Alan McInnes, General Manager of Secured by Design, said: “I commend the DCLG on its latest proposals that place the safety of residents at the centre of housing standards. Secured by Design is proven to significantly reduce burglary and anti-social behaviour, and creates wider public service cost savings. We are delighted that our standard is specifically signposted within the draft document for security, and are firmly of the view that this should remain so in the final version. We are keen to work with the department and others going forward to keep security standards under review, which is crucial given that the modus-operandi of offenders is constantly evolving.”

The DCLG’s latest consultation can be found (here) and details of the revised approach are set out in a new requirement for security, Part Q (here).

Ahead of the consultation deadline on 7th November, Secured by Design urges stakeholders to support the proposals by submitting a response to the DCLG. Responses can be submitted via an online form (here), by email at  or by post at Housing Standards Review Team, Department for Communities and Local Government, 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF.

Our team would be delighted to provide further information about the Housing Standards Review. Please contact Jon Cole at .

DCLG’s current approach proposes the following:

  • Security should be based on the provisions of British Standard PAS 24 and applied as a national mandatory requirement to all new homes
  • A new requirement, Part Q, would be introduced into Schedule 1 of the Building Regulations
  • The DCLG notes that alternative approaches that can be shown to achieve an equivalent or better performance would also be acceptable
  • Within the consultation draft of ‘Approved Document Q: Security’, DCLG cite Secured by Design as also meeting the provisions