What do new planning rules mean for social housing provision?

Comment04 Sep 2020Matthew Tucker

Changes made to the planning classification of different uses of property could generate fresh opportunities to create much-needed social housing, writes Matthew Tucker of Bevan Brittan

Matthew Tucker

Matthew Tucker is a planning specialist at Bevan Brittan

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What do new planning rules mean for social housing provision? Matthew Tucker @BevanBrittanLLP outlines the key points to note #UKhousing #SocialHousingFinance

Changes made to the planning classification of different uses of property could generate fresh opportunities to create much-needed social housing, writes Matthew Tucker @BevanBrittanLLP #UKhousing #SocialHousingFinance

At a time when there is an acute shortage of affordable homes, new permitted development rights could encourage the development of new social housing creatively in spaces that were previously unused or under-utilised – and provide flexibility for developers when there is a need to repurpose town centres and high streets.

Major changes to permitted development

The government has implemented a series of changes to permitted development rights, subject to prior approval being sought from the local authority.

These allow the demolition and rebuilding of “vacant and redundant” office units, light industrial units and existing blocks of flats into dwellings, without planning permission (up to a maximum footprint of 1,000 sq m and a maximum height of 18m).
New permitted development rights will also enable the upward extension, by up to two storeys, of existing post-war built homes. These rights will also be extended to the creation of new homes above terraces, offices and shops, without planning permission. There is a separate permitted development right that allows for the construction of additional storeys above existing detached blocks of flats.
Prior approval does not amount to a full planning application, but requires the local planning authority to review that the main impacts of the development are acceptable. The prior approval requirements in relation to these permitted development rights are more stringent than for previous forms of permitted development.

Planning obligations can be sought for prior approval applications, but the extent of obligations sought must be site-specific and particular to the impacts being assessed.

Demolition and replacement of redundant buildings: The ability to convert redundant offices and light industrial buildings into dwellings provides another avenue to enable flexible residential development. This may result in properties without any other viable use being creatively repurposed as residential accommodation, and otherwise unusable or undevelopable properties could now be redeveloped to provide much-needed housing.

This does open up the possibility of creative housing provision. The new residential units can be purpose-built, and do not need to be beholden to the inappropriate shape, structure or other internal arrangements of the existing office use.

However, government-commissioned research indicates that converted dwellings built using permitted development rights are generally significantly worse, in terms of every qualitative metric, than equivalent dwellings with planning permission.

The prior approval regime is intended to function as a barrier to low-quality development. The local planning authority has the power to reject developments because of amenity impacts, external appearance, or unacceptable impacts on nearby amenity (among other reasons).

Overall, the new demolition and rebuilding permitted development right should, in theory, avoid some of the pitfalls of previous rights.

Upward extension: This permitted development right expands existing residential development, and could improve the delivery of affordable housing in particular circumstances. Registered providers may be able to rely on this route to expand their affordable housing offer, on sites where blocks of flats have been used to deliver affordable units. While prior approval is required, this should represent a faster route to delivery for housing.

Both of the above permitted development rights can be utilised in relation to purpose-built residential blocks of flats.

This represents a very significant expansion of the opportunities available to local authorities and registered providers with blocks of flats in their residential property portfolios. Traditionally, blocks of flats are not straightforward to redevelop, and the government’s new approach removes many of the barriers to substantially improving larger-scale residential development of this type.

Use classes changes

The government has also implemented significant changes to the use classes system. The changes came into effect on 1 September.

The most significant change is the creation of a ‘commercial, business and service’ use that brackets together a wide variety of uses, including retail, restaurants, commercial premises and sports facilities. This means that many types of business user will be able to change the uses of properties without seeking planning permission.

White paper

Overall, the changes are very significant, but they are only the tip of the iceberg for potential planning changes on the immediate horizon. The government’s current white paper foreshadows the possibility of swingeing changes to the entire planning system over the coming months, and it may well be that further permitted development reforms follow in kind.

In the meantime, there is now a real opportunity arising from new permitted development rights to provide new social housing creatively in spaces that were previously unused or under-utilised.

Matthew Tucker, planning specialist, Bevan Brittan