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Another extension? Not Brexit – Housing Secretary pledges radical change to planning laws

Robert Jenrick reveals proposals to enable homeowners to add a two-storey extensions to a detached home without planning permission.

Sheila Manchester

robert jenrick

Lots of sweet promises emanated from the Tory conference in Manchester including The Chancellor, Sajid Javid’s promise to create an ‘infrastructure revolution’.

Within the package is a £25billion, five-year road investment strategy and a £5 billion package to support broadband roll-out to the hardest-to-reach 20 per cent of the country, plus a £220 million fund for bus routes.

Mr Javid pledged that the investment will ‘make the UK a better place to live and work’ adding it will ensure ‘no community is left behind’.

However, that’s the groundwork – Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick announced that families with detached homes will be able to add two storeys to their homes without planning permission, amongst the plans to unveil the move in a package of measures tearing up ‘outdated and bureaucratic’ planning laws.

The proposal was originally aimed principally at town centres and would have still required limited planning approval. Today’s announcement said that families will be able to add up to two storeys using permitted development rights – the same system used for small extensions and loft conversions.

Homeowners will still need to comply with building regulations, but – critically – their neighbours will not have a formal route to object.

Robert Jenrick said, “The bold changes to the planning process will make a real difference to people up and down the nation. All too often the planning system proves complicated, outdated and bureaucratic and is too complex and costly for people and small businesses to navigate. This is a barrier to building the homes that we need… “I want to give families the freedom they need to expand their homes and ensure small developers get a fair chance to succeed.”

 

October 1, 2019

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