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Ministers under pressure to publish impact assessment on expansions of permitted development rights
MPs and sector organisations are calling on the government to publish an impact assessment of the dramatic widening of rules that will allow certain developments to go ahead without planning permission.
From September, permitted development rights (PDR) will be expanded to include a wider range of commercial-to-residential conversions and the demolition and rebuilding of vacant offices or blocks of flats as housing.
The measures were announced in late June as part of the government’s response to the economic impacts of coronavirus and legislation was changed to effect the changes in July, immediately before parliament was suspended for the summer recess.
Housing and planning sector bodies – as well as an independent report commissioned by the government – have expressed concern about the quality of homes delivered through the policy and losses of potential affordable housing.
In a 2018 consultation document, the government pledged: “An impact assessment will be prepared prior to any secondary legislation being laid to introduce new or amended permitted development rights, or to amend the Use Classes Order.”
However, despite legislative changes being made, no such impact assessment has been published.
Labour, the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA), the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) have all now called on the government to release an impact assessment, as it had previously promised.
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Shadow housing minister Mike Amesbury said: “These changes have been announced without analysis being released of how much housing will be built under the new changes, or how much affordable housing and community funding will be lost as a result of developers being able to dodge the planning system.
“The government must fulfil its promise and urgently release full impact assessments so that proper scrutiny of this legislation can take place.”
He accused ministers of rushing through the changes and “disregarding the wave of uninhabitable slum housing that has already appeared as a result of existing permitted development policy”.
Alan Jones, president of RIBA, said: “The proposed extension of PDR is extremely worrying. The government’s own advisers said the policy had the potential to create ‘slums’, and we’re still awaiting a promised impact assessment of the true, potential effects of the extension.
“I urge the government to publish the impact assessment as a matter of urgency and assume it will reflect the research published by the government only last week, which highlighted that the policy creates ‘worse quality residential environments than planning permission conversions’.”
Dr Daniel Slade, projects and policy manager at the TCPA, said: “The government delayed publishing its research on the quality of homes delivered through PDR for as long it could.
“We must assume this was because it made clear just how many homes delivered through this route are of a shockingly low standard.
“It seems possible this is also the case with this impact assessment and begs the question whether the government’s pursuit of PDR and its prevarication over this assessment are both driven by the same disregard for evidence and the welfare of vulnerable people.”
Richard Blyth, head of policy at the RTPI, said: “We are disappointed that a full impact assessment of these changes to permitted development rights has not yet been published and we would encourage the government to do so as soon as possible.
“Without a knowledge of the effect of these changes on the costs of business, the voluntary sector and the public sector, it is difficult to see how a considered, evidence-based decision can be made.”
Tamara Hooper, policy manager at RICS, said: “RICS has long had concerns over PDR and shares others’ concerns over the latest round of PDR changes.”
She added: “Government can’t continue to make housing announcements in a silo away from industry.”
Melanie Rees, head of policy and external affairs at the CIH, said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into sharp focus the importance of homes where people can live, work and be safe.
“That’s why the government’s plans to further extend permitted development rights are so worrying.
“Quality is just as important as the numbers – we can and should be aspiring to create better places than this for people to call home.”
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “The government has considered the impacts of these policy changes and will publish an impact assessment in due course as required.
“Permitted development rights make an important contribution to building the homes our country needs and are crucial to helping our economy recover from the pandemic by supporting our high streets to adapt and encouraging the regeneration of disused buildings.”
