The government has announced a number of changes to planning regulations in the UK with the aim of helping the country to “build, build, build” following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Many of the changes announced by Boris Johnson in a speech on 30 June relate to repurposing commercial properties to allow them to be used for different purposes without requiring planning permission.
Among the most notable alterations are that more types of commercial property would be able to be repurposed without requiring a planning application or local authority approval. This means that a building that is currently used for retail could be used for a cafe or office without needing to obtain planning permission, for instance.
It will also be possible for a wider range of commercial properties to be converted into residential properties, again without requiring a planning application.
The government also wants to encourage a greater level of brownfield development and will therefore allow builders to demolish and rebuild vacant or redundant residential and commercial buildings without completing a planning application, provided that the properties they construct in their place are homes.
There were also changes announced that will affect individual homeowners, most notably that property owners will be allowed to build additional space above their property using a fast-track approval process. This will be subject to neighbour consultation.
In addition, the government announced a £12 billion package to support the construction of affordable homes in the UK. This money will be used to deliver 180,000 new affordable homes for ownership and rent in the coming eight years.
£450 million was also pledged for the Home Builders Fund, which is designed to help small developers to access the finance they need to complete new housing developments on a smaller scale.
The government anticipates that this will result in an additional 7,200 homes being constructed around the country.
Earlier in June, the Guardian reported that the government would be extending planning permission for what is likely to be hundreds of projects.
It revealed that any scheme where planning permission expired between the start of lockdown and the end of 2020 would see its permission extended to 1 April 2021.
Doing so will allow the construction of 24,000 homes around the country that were put at risk due to the Covid-19 pandemic and extended lockdown that the UK experienced.
According to government estimates, some 400 residential permissions would otherwise expire before work was able to get underway.
Housing secretary Robert Jenrick said at the time that granting this extension will “save hundreds of construction sites from being cancelled before they have a chance to get spades in the ground, helping to protect hundreds of thousands of jobs and create many others”.
However, not everyone in the construction sector believes that planning regulations should be relaxed. The HoME coalition, which comprises ten organisations in the housing and charities sector, has written an open letter to the government urging them not to abandon planning laws that require developers to construct accessible homes.
Thiis reported on the campaign, with the open letter stating that lockdown has merely highlighted the even greater importance of ensuring that we build properties to meet our future needs.
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