Shadow Housing Secretary, MP, will today announce 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 slum
housing.
Permitted development rights introduced since 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 creating ‘rabbit
hutch’ flats.
These Conservative changes were introduced to
boost house-building numbers, but the 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.
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.
Research for the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors
found that permitted development has “allowed extremely
poor-quality housing to be developed”, with only 30% of homes
built through permitted development meeting national space
standards.
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.”
Ends
Notes to editors
· The
next Labour Government will end the ability of developers to
convert non-residential buildings such as offices, storage units
and industrial buildings into homes without receiving proper
planning permission. Labour will also reverse, if brought in
before the next election, further permitted development
proposals, including to convert fast food shops into housing and
to demolish commercial buildings and rebuild them as new
housing.
· All
of these types of development will be possible with a Labour
Government, and many will be encouraged, but developers will need
to get planning permission in the usual way.
· Permitted
development rules are not new, but previously applied only in
limited circumstances, such as adding a modest conservatory to an
existing home. Conservative changes since 2013 have radically
expanded these rules, notably including to let developers turn
offices into housing without any planning consent. There have
been over 42,000 new homes created through this process in the
last three years.
· Here
are examples of developers converting office space into flats
smaller than budget hotel roomshttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/mar/27/dog-kennel-flats-barnet-house-smaller-than-travelodge-roomand https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/mar/02/will-these-be-the-worst-new-rabbit-hutch-flats-in-britain
· The
Local Government Association research showing that more than
10,000 affordable homes have been lost in the last three years as
a result of permitted development rights is here: https://www.local.gov.uk/about/news/10000-affordable-homes-potentially-lost-through-office-conversions.
· Separate
research by the housing charity Shelter, has corroborated this
figure: https://blog.shelter.org.uk/2018/12/revealed-the-true-scale-of-affordable-housing-lost-to-permitted-development-rights/.
· The
research for the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
showing the poor quality of housing built through permitted
development is here: https://www.rics.org/globalassets/rics-website/media/knowledge/research/research-reports/assessing-the-impacts-of-extending-permitted-development-rights-to-office-to-residential-change-of-use-in-england-rics.pdf.
The RICS report also remarks: “Overall, office-to-residential PD
[permitted development] has been a fiscal giveaway from the state
to private real estate interests, whilst leaving a legacy of a
higher quantum of poor quality housing than is seen with schemes
governed through full planning permission.
· Earlier
this month, the Conservative MP for Harlow, challenged the Government on
this issue, saying “the policy has not worked… It has allowed
landlords to build ghettos”: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2019-04-08/debates/A10E1242-0E56-4E8C-A1C2-13462A8B850E/TopicalQuestions#contribution-B6B4B143-4123-4E02-A927-9C9C87A93D8A.
· London
Councils have collected some case studies of permitted
development here, including housing units as small as
13.4m2 : https://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/our-key-themes/housing-and-planning/permitted-development-rights-offices/case-studies
