The UK government is proposing to further relax planning rules as part of its long-term plan for housing. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities aims to extend what are known as “permitted development rights” (PDR) in England. This would widen a previous relaxation of planning rules to encourage developers and builders to convert empty commercial spaces into housing.
It is being seen as a response to multiple councils across England which have declared bankruptcy (or are warning they might). The housing crisis in England is increasingly being singled out as the most serious threat to local government solvency.
Meanwhile, homelessness is on the rise, private tenants are increasingly priced out of the rental market, home owners are struggling to pay mortgages and councils are struggling to provide the requisite support.
But, research shows that buildings converted into homes under PDR provide significantly worse residential quality, particularly in terms of size, amenity space and location, than homes given full planning permission.
The loss of local authority oversight that extending PDR would bring will only make the housing quality crisis worse. Furthermore, converting offices into housing is unlikely to significantly boost housing supply in line with need.
Previous changes to planning
The UK government trialled PDR in May 2013, primarily to encourage converting offices to housing. This was made permanent in 2016. While developers in England were previously required to submit detailed plans and apply for full planning permission for this, the changes meant they only had to notify the local planning authority.
Conversions of offices to housing under PDR have contributed 81,282 homes (net) in England since 2015. Although data for specific changes of use (from office to housing, say) is not available before 2015, overall net change of use provided approximately 12,500 homes per year before 2013.
After PDR was introduced, conversions of offices peaked at 17,751 in 2016-17. In 2021-2022, however, this change of use accounted for just 8,359 units (3.6%) of net additional housing in England.
