Policy information sourced from the Richmond Upon Thames Local Plan

Policy 46 Amenity and Living Conditions

A. All development will be required to protect the amenity and living conditions for occupants of new, existing, adjoining and neighbouring properties and the visual amenity of the area as a whole. The Council will support development where it:

  1. Ensures the design and layout of buildings does not have an unacceptable impact on levels of daylight and sunlight on the host building or neighbouring properties, including gardens and outdoor spaces; where existing daylight and sunlight conditions are already substandard, they should be improved where possible;
  2. Ensures that adequate outlooks are provided for new occupants, and that heights, massing and siting of new development retains adequate outlooks for neighbouring occupants, avoiding any undue sense of enclosure;
  3. Ensures that acceptable standards of privacy are provided and retained, without a diminution of the design quality; development should not result in unacceptable levels of overlooking (or perceived overlooking); balconies should not cause unacceptable overlooking or noise or disturbance to nearby occupiers;
  4. Ensures that proposals are not visually intrusive or have an overbearing impact as a result of their height, massing or siting; visual amenity from adjoining sites and from the public realm should not be unacceptably compromised;
  5. Ensures there is no harm to the reasonable enjoyment of the use of buildings, gardens and other spaces due to increases in traffic, servicing, parking, noise, light, disturbance, air pollution, odours or vibration or local micro-climate effects;
  6. Provides adequate outdoor amenity space for new occupiers in accordance with Policy 13 ‘Housing Mix and Standards ‘, which is free from excessive noise or disturbance, pollution, odour, sense of enclosure, unacceptable loss of privacy, wind and overshadowing.

B. Applicants are expected to have regard to the guidance set out within the Council’s SPDs relating to design, including Village Planning Guidance, House Extensions and External Alterations, and Small and Medium Housing Sites, as well as other Local Plan policies on infill and backland developments and housing mix and standards.

C. Development will be expected to address London Plan Policy D13 on the Agent of Change principle, and accord with Policy 53 ‘Local Environmental Impacts’.

For more information please see the Richmond Upon Thames Local Plan