New Permitted Development Law

I have been looking into the new proposed Permitted Development rules, that are being discussed in Parliament, at the moment.

The original Bill was due to be passed last month, but due to some very strong objections, this has been delayed, with new proposals being drafted.

The new proposals appear to be far more convoluted than the existing Planning system, and I cannot quite understand the thinking behind this Bill.

To sum it all up, in rather basic terms:

1) At the moment, certain household extension are deemed to be Permitted Development, if they fall within certain dimension criteria. e.g. a single storey extension of no more that 3m deep, 2.4m eaves height and 4m ridge (given certain other criteria not mentioned here)

2) In theory, if your proposal fits within these criteria, there is nothing to stop you just building the extension, with no formal approvals. In my experience this can be quite a dangerous policy, as many houses (especially new ones) have had all their Permitted Development allowances removed!

3) If you require a Certificate of Lawful Development (strongly advised), then you have to apply. This costs half the Full Planning fee, and takes 10 weeks – the same as a Planning Application!

4) The new proposals have suggested an increase to the dimension – up to 8m deep for a detached house!. This has met with very strong objections, especially from many Local Council Planners. Many have suggested that they would opt out of these rules, if they became law.

5) To appease these objectors, a new proposal has been drafted. This suggests that if the proposed extension is bigger than the current allowance, then an “Informal Application” should be made. This would entail the submission of plans and elevations to the Council, who would then have to register, log and administer this application. They would then give a notification to the “direct neighbors only”, who would have 3 weeks to object to the proposal. If no objections were received, then the proposal would be granted permission.

6) This application is proposed to be FREE! Therefore the Council will have to do nearly as much work as for a Full Planning Application (and far more than for a current Lawful Development Certificate), and get nothing for it! This means we all end up paying. It also means that people can submit an application for a bigger extension, cheaper than for a smaller one!

7) This all seems like complete madness to me. The current system is fine, and you may as well just make a Full Planning Application anyway.

I do not see how this is going to “Get Britain Building” as our current Idiot In Charge believes it will.

I will provide more information, as I get it.

Thanks

Richard