Habitable rooms

Any room used or intended to be used for sleeping, cooking, living or eating purposes. Enclosed spaces such as bath or toilet facilities, service rooms, corridors, laundries, hallways, utility rooms or similar spaces are excluded from this definition.

Habitat

An area of nature conservation interest.

Hard Rock

Consolidated rock such as limestone and granite.

Hazardous Waste

Wastes that have the potential to cause harm to human health or the environment.

Health Check (in terms of shopping areas)

A survey, using a variety of indicators, to show the 'health' of a town centre or other shopping area. For example, the quality of the environment, footfall, retail sales, commercial yield or amount of customers.

Heavy Rail

The traditional railway network, using standard rolling stock.

Heritage Coast

An area, naturally designated, of largely undeveloped, unspoilt coast, when attention is focused on managing the sometimes competing needs of conservation, recreation, tourism and commercial activity such as shipping and fishing in a co-ordinated way.

High Court Challenge

The process by which an applicant may challenge a planning decision or a notice of intention to adopt a development plan in the High Court on a point of law. However, other appeal procedures may apply first and prior legal advice is advisable.

High demand housing areas

Locations with a high demand for housing resulting in expensive pricing and rents making it difficult to enter the housing market. For example, some rural locations, commuter areas, and many locations in southern England.

Highway

A publicly maintained road, together with footways and verges.

Highways Agency

An executive agency of the Department of Transport. The Highways Agency is responsible for operating, maintaining and improving the strategic road network of England.

Historic Battlefield

Areas of historic interest where important battles are sufficiently documented to be located on the ground. Designated by English Heritage.

Historic Parks and Gardens

A park or garden of special historic interest. Graded I (highest quality), II* or II. Designated by English Heritage.

Household Waste

Refuse from household collection rounds, waste from street sweepings, public litter bins, bulky items collected from households and wastes which householders themselves take to household waste recovery centres and "bring sites".

Household Waste Recovery Centres / Civic Amenity Sites

A facility provided by the Waste Disposal Authority that is available to the public to deposit waste which cannot be collected by the normal household waste collection round.

Housing Land Availability (HLA)

The total amount of land reserved for residential use awaiting development.

Housing Market Renewal Pathfinders

Nine sub-regional projects to tackle low demand and abandonment, administered by a group of local authorities working in partnership and in receipt of funding from the Housing Market Renewal Fund.

Housing Market Restructuring / Renewal (HMR)

Process of arranging public sector intervention (in partnership with others) to sustain areas in which housing market failure (or low-demand housing) is evident.

Human Rights Act

The Human Rights Act 1998 incorporated provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into UK law.

The general purpose of the ECHR is to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms and to maintain and promote the ideals and values of a democratic society. It sets out the basic rights of every person together with the limitations placed on these rights in order to protect the rights of others and of the wider community.

The specific Articles of the ECHR relevant to planning include Article 6 (Right to a fair and public hearing), Article 8 (Right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence), Article 14 (Prohibition of discrimination) and Article 1 of Protocol 1 (Right to peaceful enjoyment of possessions and protection of property).