Streets for a Healthy Life is a technical companion guide to Building for a Healthy Life, prepared by PJA and Design for Homes on behalf of Homes England. It supports the creation of well-designed, people-focused streets within new and growing neighbourhoods.
The guide provides clear, practical examples of UK streets that meet the ‘healthy streets’ principles set out in Building for a Healthy Life, which Homes England uses as its design code toolkit. Through proven case studies, it demonstrates how streets can be designed as places for people first, supporting walking, cycling, social interaction, biodiversity, and long-term health outcomes, while also meeting the requirements of highways adoption.
Designed to bridge the gap between planning and highways processes, Streets for a Healthy Life helps development teams make informed design decisions early on, ensuring street layouts, dimensions, geometry and materials align with both planning objectives and adoption standards. This is particularly important as authorities face increasing pressures on long-term maintenance and funding.
The document responds to ongoing reform of the planning system and the future introduction of national and local design codes. While wider changes to policy and guidance will take time to take effect, this guide provides immediate, practical support to raise the quality and consistency of residential street design.
The guide directly supports Homes England’s Strategic Plan 2023–2028, promoting well-designed homes and places that reflect community priorities. It also helps developers demonstrate compliance with Building for a Healthy Life and KPI 12, which measures the share of supported schemes that meet or exceed agreed design quality standards.
Designed as a live, online resource, Streets for a Healthy Life will continue to evolve, with future updates adding new street typologies and technical guidance to support healthier, more sustainable neighbourhoods.
For more information, please contact [email protected]
