Housing: Permitted Development Rights

Debate between Lord Crisp and Baroness Taylor of Stevenage

Wednesday 18th December 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Crisp]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what is their policy on creating additional housing units through permitted development rights.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Baroness Taylor of Stevenage) (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Crisp, for his Question and for all the work he has done on healthy homes. Under nationally set permitted development rights, a wide range of commercial and other buildings are able to change use without the need for a planning application. The Government acknowledge the concerns that exist about the quality of residential units created through permitted development rights, particularly office-to-residential conversions. We will continue to keep permitted development rights under review, and we are grateful to the National Housing Federation and the TCPA for highlighting some of the issues arising from poor-quality PD schemes.

[Lord Crisp (CB)]

I thank the noble Baroness for that response and for the fact that this is being kept under review. I was also pleased to hear from a government spokesman last week that there is to be

“no trade-off between supply and quality”

in respect of housing. However, as the noble Baroness said, PDR has a poor record. Some very good conversions are made but a large number suffer from safety and other problems. I want to ask two questions. How will the noble Baroness ensure that that poor track record is not just continued into the future? Also, in reviewing it, will she meet some of the people who have already done so and come to conclusions about it to ensure that there is indeed no trade-off between housing supply and quality?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

My Lords, the Government’s aim in the delivery of the 1.5 million homes is to deliver good quality, well-designed, sustainable homes and places that everyone can be proud of. I have already met both the TCPA and the National Housing Federation, which have been campaigning on this. I am very aware of some of the poor practice that has occurred, and we will continue to advocate for the principles of good design, as set out in the National Design Guide and the National Model Design Code. As I say, we keep permitted development under review.