Permitted Development Rights (Extension) Bill [HL]

Baroness Taylor of Stevenage Excerpts

Friday 7th February 2025 Lords Chamber

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

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, for bringing this very important issue before the House again, and for his work on his Bill. I give my personal welcome to the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey; it is great to be working with her.

We absolutely support the right of householders to adapt their homes to meet their needs, and we understand the wish to continue to speed up the process. The points on the density of our urban areas made by the noble Lord, Lords Lucas and Lord Jamieson, are well made. Noble Lords will be aware of both the Government’s intention to promote brownfield sites, through the use of brownfield passports, and our support for SME builders; it is my intention that we will do as much as we can in that regard. But we believe that there are other routes to achieve the aims set out in the Bill, so the Government have some reservations, which I will endeavour to set out.

Permitted development rights are a national grant of planning permission granted by the Secretary of State. They play an important role in the planning system by taking certain development out of the standard planning application process and freeing up local planning authority resources. This is an important step in the freeing up and speeding up of the planning process for those major applications that we all want to see.

In England, under the existing householder permitted development rights, as set out in the general permitted development order, home owners are able to extend, alter and make certain improvements to their homes. Those rights strike a balance between protecting local amenity and allowing individuals the freedom to carry out development. They ensure that there is flexibility for householders and growing families so that they can alter and extend their homes.

The rights are therefore subject to certain conditions and limitations to minimise their impacts and are designed to safeguard against the kind of inappropriate development mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Lucas. In addition, for larger rear extensions there is a neighbourhood notification scheme, referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Jamieson, which means that consideration can be given by the local authority as to whether or not the impact on amenity of any adjoining premises is acceptable before giving approval to proceed. In a similar way, proposals to add additional storeys to homes under the rights are subject to prior approval.

These long-standing rights are well established, with home owners, developers and local authorities clear about what types of development are covered by the rights. We want to ensure that the permitted development rights are flexible enough to accommodate different living styles and maximise the number of households that can make use of those rights. When changes are made to permitted development rights, they are done so through amendments to the relevant secondary legislation, in this case the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, as amended. This means that primary legislation is not required for changes to householder permitted development rights.

Prior to any secondary legislative amendments there is normally a period of public consultation on the proposals. That ensures that the views of people who will be most affected by any of the changes can be taken into account and that suitable mitigations can be put in place.

The Bill appears to seek to replicate some of the existing householder permitted development rights as set out in the general permitted development order in England. It would introduce a free-standing and separate regime for householder permitted development rights without reference to, or connection with, current permitted development rights in the general permitted development order. Whether or not the new rights proposed are meant to sit alongside or replace existing permitted development rights is unclear. However, the Bill’s proposed permitted development rights, as provided by primary legislation, would prevail over the current rights, under secondary legislation, resulting in inconsistency. That would create uncertainty and confusion for users of the system, directly impacting both home owners and local authorities.

The Bill appears to seek to introduce new national permitted development rights in primary legislation that could otherwise be delivered in secondary legislation. We feel that would be a disproportionate use of primary powers. It would mean that there would not be a period of public consultation on the measures, which is a valuable step in the design of new permitted development rights, risking adverse impacts on amenity of neighbours without the in-depth assessment that consultation provides.

I will respond to the comments made by the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, on the issue of roof heights. The National Planning Policy Framework has recently been updated to make it clear that planning policies and decisions should support opportunities to use the air space above existing residential and commercial premises for new homes. In particular, they should allow upward extensions, including mansard roofs—I know that that is a lovely topic of conversation in your Lordships’ House—where the development would be consistent with the prevailing form of neighbouring properties and the overall street scene, as long as they are well designed, including complying with local design policies and standards, and can maintain safe access and egress for occupiers. I hope that that is helpful.

In February 2024, the previous Government issued a consultation on changes to certain permitted development rights, including householder rights. The consultation sought views on allowing householders to erect larger extensions and loft extensions, and on providing flexibilities to permit bin and bike stores in front gardens.

Issues around building in flood-sensitive areas, on net zero, those raised by the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, and those related to listed buildings and flood-sensitive areas, as referred to by the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, will be considered as we go forward. Following the analysis of consultation, we will consider whether to bring forward any amendments to the rights.

In relation EPC listings, which the noble Baroness raised, we have issued a consultation on this matter and are taking views on it but it is vital, in particular to those in private rented accommodation, that we are able to tackle fuel poverty and make sure that they have an assurance of fuel efficiency. On rural development, we have coming forward in the spring a housing strategy and a new planning and infrastructure Bill, both of which are likely to contain issues around development in rural areas.

Any future changes to the permitted development regime would be introduced through amendments to the general permitted development order made by secondary legislation. We will, therefore, continue to keep permitted development rights under review. Although I thank the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, for highlighting this important issue, I hope that I have explained the Government’s reservations about this way of approaching householder permitted development rights.

I realise that I have not commented on the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Jamieson, about housebuilding in London. I have responded to him in writing. The Government have set fairly challenging targets for London housing in the new housing targets that we have set. I once again thank the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, for raising this very important issue and for his contribution to the discussion on permitted development rights.