Visual amenity
The term ‘visual amenity’ refers to the views and surroundings that create the backdrop to an area.
A Residential Visual Amenity Assessment (RVAA) assesses the potential visual impact of a development on the residential amenity of property.
Guidance on the preparation of Landscape and Visual Impact Assessments is available in GLVIA 3, Guidelines for Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment, Third Edition, published by the Landscape Institute and Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment in 2013.
Additional guidance is available in Landscape Institute technical guidance note TGN 02/2019 at https://landscapewpstorage01.blob.core.windows.net/www-landscapeinstitute-org/2019/03/tgn-02-2019-rvaa.pdf
NB High Speed Rail (Crewe – Manchester) Environmental Statement, Glossary, abbreviations and references, published by the Department for Transport in 2022, defines visual amenity as: ‘The enjoyment or benefit that people derive from a particular view or area in terms of what is seen. When a landscape (or townscape) is changed in some way, the change will be seen by people - often by several different groups of people i.e. visual receptors - and this may affect their views and their visual amenity overall.’
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
- Ecological impact assessment.
- Ecological survey.
- Environmental impact assessment.
- Green belt.
- Historic Landscape Characterisation.
- Historic Land-use Assessment.
- In-combination effects.
- Landscape and Visual Appraisal.
- Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment.
- Landscape architect.
- Landscape character.
- Landscape Institute.
- Landscape officer.
- Legibility.
- Natural area.
- Strategic ecology framework SEF.
Featured articles and news
Solar generation in the historic environment
Success requires understanding each site in detail.
Level 6 Design, Construction and Management BSc
CIOB launches first-ever degree programme to develop the next generation of construction leaders.
Open for business as of April, with its 2026 prospectus and new pipeline of housing schemes.
The operational value of workforce health
Keeping projects moving. Incorporating unplanned absence and the importance of health, in operations.
A carbon case for indigenous slate
UK slate can offer clear embodied carbon advantages.
Costs and insolvencies mount for SMEs, despite growth
Construction sector under insolvency and wage bill pressure in part linked to National Insurance, says report.
The place for vitrified clay pipes in modern infrastructure
Why vitrified clay pipes are reclaiming their role in built projects.
Research by construction PR consultancy LMC published.
Roles and responsibilities of domestic clients
ACA Safety in Construction guide for domestic clients.
Fire door compliance in UK commercial buildings
Architect and manufacturer gives their low down.
Plumbing and heating for sustainability in new properties
Technical Engineer runs through changes in regulations, innovations in materials, and product systems.
Awareness of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
What CBAM is and what to do about it.
The new towns and strategic environmental assessments
12 locations of the New Towns Taskforce reduced to 7 within the new towns draft programme and open consultation.
Buildings that changed the future of architecture. Book review.
The Sustainability Pathfinder© Handbook
Built environment agency launches free Pathfinder© tool to help businesses progress sustainability strategies.
Government outcome to the late payment consultation, ECA reacts.
Comments
[edit] To make a comment about this article, click 'Add a comment' above. Separate your comments from any existing comments by inserting a horizontal line.