Communities have
missed out on more than 10,000 desperately-needed affordable homes in the past
three years as a result of government rules allowing developers to bypass the
planning system to convert offices, council leaders have warned.
The Local Government
Association, which represents 370 councils in England and Wales, says permitted
development rules allowing offices to be converted into housing without
planning permission are exacerbating the nation’s housing affordability crisis
and should be scrapped.
Latest figures show
that since 2015, a total of 42,130 housing units in England have been converted
from offices to flats without having to go through the planning system. As a
result, they included no affordable housing or supporting investment in infrastructure
such as roads, schools and health services.
While this amounts
to approximately 7 per cent of new homes nationally, in some parts of the
country it represents a much higher proportion of all new housing. Office to
residential conversions under permitted development rules accounted for 40 per
cent of new homes in Islington, Welwyn Hatfield, Mole Valley, Croydon and Derby
in 2017/18.
New LGA analysis
reveals this has led to the potential loss of 10,500 desperately-needed
affordable homes in the past three years. It comes as its survey of councils in
England found concerns about the rules, revealing that:
- Around nine out of 10
councils were concerned about the quality/design and the appropriateness
of the location of housing as a result and almost six out of 10 were
concerned about safety.
- Around two-thirds thought
that both contributions by developers to affordable housing and
contributions for other infrastructure through section 106 agreements had
reduced. A similar proportion (61 per cent) thought that demands on local
infrastructure/services had increased.
- 60 per cent of councils said
they were concerned about the demand being placed on health and social
care services and school place planning as a result of homes being built
through permitted development rules
Alongside scrapping
the existing rules, the LGA is also urging the government to drop proposed
plans to extend them to allow upwards extensions to be built without planning
permission and allow the demolition of existing commercial buildings for new
homes without planning consent.
Cllr Martin Tett,
LGA Housing spokesman, said: “Permitted development rules are taking away the
ability of local communities to shape the area they live in, ensures homes are
built to high standards with the necessary infrastructure in place and have resulted
in the potential loss of thousands of desperately-needed affordable homes.
“The loss of office
space is also leaving businesses and start-ups without any premises in which to
base themselves.
“Extending permitted
development rules risks exacerbating these problems.
“Planning is not a
barrier to house-building, with councils approving nine in 10 planning
applications. It is vital that councils and local communities have a voice in
the planning process.
“Councils, which are
answerable to their residents, must be given back their ability to oversee all
local developments to ensure they are good quality and help build prosperous
places.”
