New Birmingham Daylight & Sunlight Assessments

Birmingham DMB has a set of Validation Requirements for Planning Applications including new requirements for Daylight & Sunlight Assessments

In December 2021 Birmingham City Council adopted the new Development Management in Birmingham DPD (DMB). This replaced the old 2005 Birmingham UDP. The new DMB includes a new set of Local Validation Requirements for Planning Applications.

For the first time this includes specific reference to the requirement for Daylight & Sunlight Assessments. It also ties the requirements to the DMB Policy on Amenity.

Until now, like many regional planning authorities, Birmingham City Council’s planning guidance has been vague on amenity issues. It was also lacking detail of the impact of development on neighbours and the quality of daylight and sunlight within a proposed scheme.

The Council have now published a new Local Validation Requirements document. This sets out the information that Birmingham City Council will require to be able to register, assess and determine planning applications.

New Requirement for Daylight & Sunlight Assessments in Birmingham

The new Validation list states that a daylight & sunlight assessment will be required for :

“any application where there is potential adverse impact upon the current levels of sunlight/daylight within the habitable rooms of adjacent residential buildings and those of the proposed building(s)”.
Birmingham City Council, Local Information Requirements for Planning Applications

The list stipulates that the assessment should include overshadowing studies and assessments of Vertical Sky Component and Average Daylight Factor. These should be undertaken by a suitably qualified professional using the criteria within the BRE Guidelines; ‘Site layout planning for daylight and sunlight: A guide to good practice 2011.’

It also requires the results to be presented in a report including diagrams illustrating the assessment. The report should also contain a non-technical summary of the assessment for the benefit of lay readers. Presumably this is also in consideration of members of the planning committee so that they can take account of the findings in their deliberations.

The new document marks a major step change by Birmingham's Planning Authority. This is perhaps to reflect the large number of residential developments that are coming forward in and around the city centre, for instance.

The new requirements create an additional hurdle to submitting a planning application. However, in reality it aligns Birmingham with policies that have been in force across Greater London for many years.

The importance placed on the quality of daylight and sunlight amenity is demonstrated by the new requirements. This is not only in terms of the impact of a scheme on neighbouring properties. It also goes to ensure a proposed development will enjoy good quality daylight and sunlight.

How we can help with the New Daylight & Sunlight Assessments

Our Birmingham team are well placed to support clients and fellow design professionals. We can help in meeting the requirements of the new Local List, combining a wealth of local knowledge and many years of experience in Daylight & Sunlight Assessments.

Our team of experts are sure to give you the best service possible while keeping mistakes to a minimum. Find out how a daylight error can cause issues later on with planning in this our previous post.

Daylight & Sunlight Services

Detailed Daylight & Sunlight Assessments

Masterplanning & Site Optimisation

Maximum Development Envelopes & Optimisation

Façade Analysis & Optimisation

Internal Daylight & Sunlight Assessment

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)

Transient Overshadowing

Hours in Sun for Amenity Space

Climate Based Assessment

Tree Impact Assessments

Radiance Studies

Solar Glare

Solar Panel Assessments

Light Pollution

Expert Witness

Technical adviser to Local Planning Authorities

New British Standard EN17037 View Out Assessment

Contact

For Daylight & Sunlight advice direct from one of our Birmingham surveyors, please call our Enquiry line in 0121 667 9902.

We cover all urban areas in the Midlands. We have live Daylight & Sunlight projects in Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Coventry, Leicester & Nottingham.

See links to some of our recent Birmingham projects at Lee Bank Business Centre, Fabrick Square and at Snow Hill. Also follow the link for details of our 3D model of Birmingham.

For detailed advice direct from one of our surveyors on the assessment process and how it may affect schemes currently in the pipeline please call our Daylight & Sunlight Enquiry Line on 020 4534 3138.

If you would like us to call you, please fill in our Contact Us form and we will call you back.