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Yes. I agree.
I don't think it has any statutory power, so legally it's meaningless. But the coalition government announced a new 'Starter Homes' initiative that aims to help young first-time buyers (below 40 years) purchase a home with a minimum 20% discount off the market price, and as I understand it these are the guidelines for those homes, so it could have some influence in reality.
But fundamentally, yes, developers/builders have to stick to what is legally required: building regs, planning constraints etc. Not what politicians think makes good architecture.
Which begs the question, why are they spending money on this?
Fox
Although endorsed by Terry F and others, isn't this a bit more of a political issue rather than architecture in general? Even if we/you agreed with the content of this guide, it's not the government's place to establish design standards to such a formal manner... Shouldn't its role be limited to minimum/maximum surfaces, ratios, conservation areas stuff, standards of living etc.. And not whether windows are aligned or not? What's the "legal" value of this guide anyway, if there's any? It's not a "legislation" I hope... (Sorry, I may need to read the article again, I only browsed thru it quickly yesterday...)