Labour Plans to Scrap Permitted Development Rules for New Homes

LABOUR SHADOW Housing Secretary, John Healey MP, announced today (24 April 2019) that the next Labour Government will scrap ‘permitted development’ rules for new homes, ending a get-out clause which allows developers to dodge social housing obligations and build unsatisfactory housing.

Permitted development rights introduced in 2013 allow developers to bypass the normal planning process by converting commercial spaces into housing without the consent of the council and local community. This gives developers a get-out from requirements to provide affordable housing and meet basic quality rules such as space standards.

These changes were introduced by the Conservative party with an aim to boost house-building numbers. However, measures mean housing units just a few feet wide in former office blocks are now counted in official statistics as ‘new homes’. There are 42,000 new housing units that have been converted from offices since 2015.

Plans to Scrap Permitted Development Rules

Research by the Local Government Association has estimated that over 10,000 affordable homes have been lost as a result of permitted development in the last three years alone.

John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Housing Secretary

John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Housing Secretary, said: “Conservative permitted development rules have created a get-out clause for developers to dodge affordable homes requirements and build slum housing. To fix the housing crisis, we need more genuinely affordable, high-quality homes. This Conservative housing free-for-all gives developers a free hand to build what they want but ignore what local communities need.

“Labour will give local people control over the housing that gets built in their area and ensure developers build the low-cost, high-quality homes that the country needs.”

Underfunded Planning System

According to the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), if a future Labour Government was to scrap commercial to residential permitted development it must also come forward with proposals to properly resource our chronically underfunded planning system.

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the Federation of Master Builders (FMB)

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said: “If Labour is going to put more strain on the planning system by scrapping commercial to residential permitted development, it must also think carefully about how planning will be resourced. Small and medium-sized house builders cite the planning process as the third greatest barrier to them increasing their delivery of new homes. Planning departments are chronically underfunded and we can’t ask them to do more without providing them with additional funding.”

“In recent years, permitted development rules governing domestic properties have been relaxed, which has made it easier for home owners to extend their homes without having to go through the rigmarole of a full planning application. These permissions have proved popular among builders and home owners alike. The reason being is that they give even more people the opportunity to add a bit more space – eight metres for a detached house and six metres for an attached house – to their home. In short, let’s not damn all permitted development.”

High Street Ttilisation

Brian Berry continued, “It would also be good to see proposals from Labour regarding how we can more easily convert empty spaces above shops. There are 300,000 to 400,000 new homes which could be created by making use of empty spaces above shops on our high streets. Surely, we make use of permitted development regulations in a way that utilises these spaces without bringing to market tiny uninhabitable homes. This would have the added benefit of revitalising our struggling high streets across the country.

“Tiny uninhabitable homes are not something the FMB would ever support. Small and medium-sized construction firms compete on quality and that’s at the heart of everything they do. We support Labour’s drive to reform permitted development to prevent low quality conversions and will work with them to achieve this.”

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