Building for a Healthy Life (BHL)

Design:Midlands is the accredited provider for independent Building for a Healthy Life (BHL) assessment, advice and support for developers, housing providers, local authorities and design teams across the Midlands.

Our accredited assessors bring urban design and master planning, landscape, transport and movement expertise. We provide an independent assessment of how your housing scheme performs against the 12 Building for a Healthy Life considerations. The same BHL considerations provide the basis for our assessments irrespective of housing tenure.

The greatest value from BHL is when it becomes part of the design process.

If you have a housing scheme at an early stage, are approaching a planning submission, or want an independent review of an approved development, talk to the Design:Midlands team about the right approach.

Fees are based on the scale and stage of the scheme and the assessment team required (see below), starting from £3,000 Contact us for a fee proposal for your project.

BOOK A BHL ASSESSMENT

Why use Building for a Healthy Life?

BHL provides a clear framework for creating neighbourhoods that are well connected, distinctive, attractive, healthy and easy to move around through 12 considerations covering neighbourhoods, character and distinctiveness, green and blue infrastructure, and streets and movement.

BHL helps to:

  • identify opportunities to improve a scheme before key decisions are fixed
  • support constructive conversations between the client, design team and other stakeholders
  • provide an independent perspective on design quality
  • identify areas requiring further design consideration
  • demonstrate how a scheme responds to recognised principles of good placemaking.

BHL commissions

Pre-application assessment

Get an independent perspective while there is still time to influence the design.

Our assessors review the emerging masterplan, parameter plans and supporting information against the 12 BHL considerations. This includes a site visit, followed by a draft assessment and online feedback workshop with the client and design team.

We identify Green, Amber and Red considerations and, importantly, highlight opportunities on how to address Amber or Red areas as the design develops. A final assessment report captures the findings and recommendations.
Ideal for: emerging masterplans and schemes approaching pre-application discussions.

Pre-submission reassessment

Demonstrate how your scheme has progressed before submitting for planning.

Where we have previously assessed a scheme, we can return to it before submission to consider how the design has responded and whether changes have improved its BHL performance.

We maintain continuity with the original assessment team, providing valuable understanding of the scheme and its design journey. The service includes a reassessment, feedback workshop and final report.

Ideal for: design teams that have used BHL earlier in the process and want to demonstrate progress before submitting a planning application.

Post-consent assessment

Understand what the consented scheme will deliver.

We can review a scheme following planning consent, assessing the approved planning material against BHL.

As well as identifying Green, Amber and Red outcomes, our assessment can highlight where different design decisions could have resulted in stronger outcomes. This makes the process useful not just for the individual scheme, but for organisational learning and future projects.

If you achieve more than 9 Greens then your scheme can apply for a BHL Commendation. If successful, we will pass your assessment to Design for Homes who can issue certification and marketing materials to promote the quality and credibility of the scheme.

Ideal for: developers, housing providers, registered providers and local authorities seeking an independent review of an approved development.

Training

In-house training to support your team to deliver BHL considerations into their design activity

Different methods of training can be provided to suit your team – whether local authority, planning agent, architect’s office or housebuilder. We can do on-site and desk based exercises, or bring the training online if required.