General Permitted Development Amendment – What does it mean for me, my home and my high street?

Permitted development rights are essentially a right to make certain changes to a building, permission for which is not granted by the local authority, but automatically by Parliament itself. The extent of those permissions is outlined under the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995, which has been subject to a recent, somewhat controversial, amendment.

The changes are only temporary, but for three years at least a number of marked differences will be in place in all but the most protected territories, like those in a conservation area.

For example:

-          The size limits for the depth of single-storey domestic extensions have been increased from 4m to 8m (for detached houses) and from 3m to 6m (for all other houses), in non-protected areas, for a period of three years. [Take note all homeowners looking for a little extra space]

-          The threshold for extensions and erections of commercial buildings has been increased, from 25% of the previous size or 100 sq m to 50% or 200 sq m (whichever is the lesser).

-          Changes of use class between Offices (B1a) and Residential Dwellings (C3) do not now require planning permission and may only be judged through a prior approval process that looks at transport and highways, flooding and contamination issues.

The Local Government Association (LGA), however, warned that the Government’s attempt to breathe new life into empty buildings, part of the stated reasoning behind these changes, risked doing the opposite. 

Cllr Mike Jones, chairman of the association’s environment and housing board, said:

“People tell us that they’re fed up of having their local high streets filled with betting shops and payday loan companies. 

“We have been clear that if we’re to get people back out shopping in their local town centres, we need to give them more say on what type of businesses and shops open there. Instead, from today they will have less.”

“There’s a very real danger that, in chasing a short-term boost, this panic measure could end up creating real problems in our high streets and doing lasting damage to our towns and cities. This could potentially drain the life from our high streets.”

He said planning controls were not there to make life difficult for new businesses but as a form of democratic quality control which ensured new shops and businesses would be good for the area and the people who lived there.

The Government, though, were unmoved in response. A spokesman for DCLG said:

“The alternative is boarded up, empty buildings which create a cycle of decline. Councils already have the ability to tackle the cumulative impact of development.”

He pointed to councils’ powers under the Gambling Act to licence betting shops and address problems by individual premises.

“Councils have a range of planning powers to protect a local amenity if there are localised issues; for example, the London borough of Barking and Dagenham has been consulting on an Article 4 Direction and associated supplementary planning guidance to address the proliferation of betting shops in the local area.”

The news comes in conjunction with a Court of Appeal ruling that threatens council funding against unlicensed betting and sex shops. With funding down and planning rules relaxed, the comments of the LGA will no doubt resonate with many who are cautious when it comes to decreasing popular involvement in the planning process.

 

SRJ/LCB                                                                                          07/06/2013

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