Shadow Housing Secretary, John Healey MP, has said that the next Labour government will scrap ‘permitted development’ rules for new homes, which he alleges provides a get-out clause for 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.
Already a contentious issue, the legislation stoked more controversy when the government announced plans to extend them to high street shops.
Healey claims that the move 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.
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.”
The National Federation of Builders (NFB) has challenged the Labour Party to understand how it could already deliver the changes it is seeking.
PD policy can already be withdrawn by local authorities through a policy called ‘Article 4’, which has been used by some Labour councils. For example, an exemption exists in many London boroughs and in Manchester.
Where Labour is correct is on the ‘get-out’ clause for affordable housing. The Local Government Association (LGA) reports that the rules around PD have resulted in local communities missing out on more than 10,000 homes since 2016.
Richard Beresford, chief executive of the NFB, said: “Permitted development on office to residential must be reviewed. Although it has its place, permitted development isn’t delivering enough affordable family homes and it should be doing more than simply increasing the number of individual housing units.”
Rico Wojtulewicz, head of housing and planning policy for the House Builders Association (HBA), added: “The issue lies in how local authorities interpret planning rules. Local policy can stop permitted development and make planning easier for local companies delivering more affordable housing and high-quality homes. However, councils make planning harder for smaller builders and embrace a development style that attracts investors rather than builders.”
