Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of building owners using permitted development rights to build additional stories on buildings deemed in need of remediation following an EWS1 report.

Under the permitted development rights to extend detached blocks of flats or detached buildings in commercial or mixed use upwards to create new homes developers must obtain the prior approval of the local planning authority on certain matters. This includes a requirement, in relation to an existing building which is 18 metres or more in height, that a report from a chartered engineer or other competent professional is provided confirming that the external wall construction of the existing building complies with the paragraph B4(1) of Schedule 1 to the Building Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/2214). Where a report is not provided the local planning authority must refuse prior approval and the development cannot proceed.

Where additional storeys and homes are added to a building some aspects of the building as a whole may also be required to be upgraded under Building Regulations, including in respect of fire safety. These provisions are described in detail by a circular which can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/924449/Building_regs_circular_032020.pdf.