Episode 103:
Hello and Welcome to the Part3 with me podcast.
The show that helps part 3 students jump-start into their careers as qualified architects and also provides refresher episodes for practicing architects. I am your host Maria Skoutari and this week is a bonus episode on the current live consultation regarding changes to various permitted development rights. Today’s episode meets PC2 & 3 of the Part 3 Criteria.
Although these haven’t have not been made law yet, I thought it would be beneficial to keep you updated on the current on-going and potential changes to permitted development rights.
So as of the 13th of February, the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities published the open consultation to the changes to various permitted development rights.
The aim of this consultation proposes changes to the Town and Country Planning (general permitted development)(England) order 2015 with regards to:
- Changes to certain permitted development rights which enable householders to improve and enlarge their homes.
- Changes to the building upwards permitted development rights which enable the upward extension of a range of existing buildings.
- Changes to the permitted development right which allows for the demolition of certain buildings and rebuild as homes.
- Changes to the permitted development rights which enable the installation of electrical outlets and upstands for recharging electric vehicles.
- Changes to the permitted development right for the installation of air source heat pumps.
Key item to highlight is that the consultation for these changes is related to England only and it will last for 8 weeks from 13th of February to 9th of April.
So why is the government seeking to make these changes:
These changes are proposed to ensuring that the planning system is efficient, effective and responsive. Permitted development rights provide flexibility and planning freedoms to different users, including householders and businesses and they are viewed as an important tool to support growth by providing certainty and removing the time and money needed to submit a planning application.
Therefore, through these proposed changes, the government is seeking to support householders to make the changes they need to meet today’s living demands and maximise the usability of space within their homes. There are a range of permitted development rights that allow for enlargements, improvements, and alterations to homes and the aim of the consultation is to make amendments to the permitted development rights to ensure that they are fit for purpose and provide the flexibility needed for householders to alter or extend their homes. Additionally, the government is also looking at permitted development rights that allow for upwards extensions to a range of buildings including mixed-use, commercial and residential buildings, as well as changes to the existing permitted development right for the demolition of certain buildings and their rebuild as homes.
The aim of all these proposed changes in permitted development is to increase housing delivery and reduce the burden on local planning authorities.
Now first let's look at exactly what the permitted development rights changes are which enable householders to improve and enlarge their homes.
The householder permitted development rights allow householders to undertake a broad range of works to improve, extend and alter their homes without the need to submit a planning application. The rights allow for the enlargement of a dwellinghouse such as rear or side extensions as well as alterations and extensions to the roof. The changes to the permitted development rights seek to allow the erection of larger extensions, loft extensions and make additions and alterations to the roof.
So currently, under permitted development, homeowners can construct single-storey rear extensions, two-storey rear extensions and single-storey side extensions. Under the potential changes, the government is proposing:
1. for a smaller single-storey rear extension:
i) in the case of a detached house, increase the maximum depth permitted from 4 metres to 5 metres,
ii) in the case of all other houses, increase the maximum depth permitted from 3 metres to 4 metres.
2. For a two-storey rear extension:
i) increase the maximum depth permitted from 3 metres to 4 metres,
ii) amend the limitation that extensions must be a minimum of 7 metres from the boundary of its curtilage (which is opposite the rear wall of the house being enlarged) so that it only applies if the adjacent use is residential. This limitation would not apply where the adjacent use is non-residential.
3. Removal of the 50% curtilage coverage limitation whereby currently extensions must not exceed 50% of the curtilage of the dwellighouse. The government is proposing to remove this limitation to provide householder with further flexibility to extend their homes.
4. Currently, the permitted development right requires that the height of the enlargement, improvement or alteration cannot exceed the height of the highest part of the roof of the existing dwellinghouse. It also requires that the height of the eaves of the enlargement, improvement or alteration cannot exceed the height of the eaves of the existing dwellinghouse. The change is proposing to amend these limitations so that they only apply where a two-storey rear extension is visible from the street. If a rear two-storey extension is not visible from the street, then it is proposed that the highest part of the alteration can be as high as the highest part of the existing roof, excluding any chimney.
5. The government is also seeking feedback to potentially allow for single-storey wrap-around L-shaped extensions to be permitted.
In terms of additions to the roof, permitted development will be seeking to remove the cubic metre limitation currently in place to allow for the enlargement of a dwellinghouse consisting of an addition or alteration to the roof to maximise roof space to provide additional living space and for householders to be able to convert as much of their loft space as is available, including to article 2(3) land.
The government is also seeking feedback in allowing householders to be able to amend the ridge height of the original roof to increase by up to 30 centimetres to allow householders to make modest extensions to the roof.
In terms of outbuildings on article 2(3) land, the proposed change is to allow outbuildings with an area over 10 square metres but this would only apply to outbuilding to the rear of the dwellinghouse.
So these are just some of the changes the government is seeking feedback on under the consultation for the permitted development rights changes enabling householders to improve and enlarge their homes.
Next are the proposed changes to permitted development rights for building upwards:
Currently, there is an existing suite of permitted development rights allowing for the upward extension of buildings to create new homes and provide additional living space for growing families. These rights apply to a range of different buildings including mixed use, commercial and residential buildings and these rights are not applicable for buildings constructed before 1 July 1948.
The government's consultation is seeking feedback to either entirely remove the date limit or to amend it to an alternative date so more buildings can benefit from the rights.
Then we have the changes to the permitted development right for demolition and rebuild:
Currently, existing permitted development rights allow for the demolition of certain single detached buildings and the construction of a block of flats or a single detached dwellinghouse in its place. It also permits the demolition of detached buildings that are blocks of flats or detached buildings in use as offices, research and development and industrial processes. This permitted development right was introduced in 2020 to increase housing delivery by replacing older vacant residential and certain commercial buildings that were no longer suitable for their original use. Currently, there’s a limitation in place that this right does not apply if the original building was constructed after 31 December 1989.
The government is seeking feedback whether to remove this limitation so that buildings built after this date can benefit from this permitted development right.
In terms of demolition, the permitted development rights currently don’t include a limit on the maximum age of an original building that can be demolished and for the new building to retain the footprint of the original. The government is seeking feedback on this on whether to impose an age limit to protect old buildings from being demolished and allowing a larger footprint where the original building was.
Then we have changes to the permitted development rights for the installation of electrical outlets and upstands for recharging electric vehicles:
Under this permitted development right, the existing rights allow for the installation of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in an area lawfully used for off-street parking. The rights allow for the installation, alteration or replacement of a wall-mounted electrical outlet and an upstand with an electrical outlet mounted on it for the purpose of recharging EVs. These rights do not apply in the curtilage of listed buildings or within a site designated as a scheduled monument. They do however apply in article 2(3) land, which includes conservation areas, World Heritage Sites, National Parks, the Broads and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The current permitted development rights include limitations on the size and location of the outlet. To provide further flexibility to individuals and organisations wishing to install EV charging outlets, the government is proposing to remove these limitations so that wall-mounted outlets and upstands can be installed anywhere within an area lawfully used for off-street parking.
The government is also seeking feedback on whether permitted development rights should allow for the installation of a unit for equipment housing or storage cabinets to support the operation of bigger and more powerful EV upstands and on how permitted development rights could further contribute to the rollout of EV charging infrastructure.
And lastly are the changes to permitted development rights for air source heat pumps within the curtilage of domestic buildings:
To support the decarbonisation of heating, the UK government is putting in place policies to support the installation of 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028. To help facilitate this, an existing permitted development right allows for the installation of air source heat pumps on domestic premises subject to certain limitations and conditions, mainly being noise. Through the consultation process, the government is seeking views on proposals to make several changes to the limitations associated with the permitted development right for air source heat pumps and removing this limitation which is currently considered as an unnecessary barrier to heat pump deployment.
Additionally, the permitted development right requires that the volumetric size of the air source heat pump’s outdoor compressor unit must not exceed 0.6 cubic metres. The review noted that the current volume restriction is preventing the development of quieter models for the mass market. By increasing the size of the evaporator, increasing the size of the fan and lowering the fan speed, an air source heat pump could run at a lower speed to help minimise noise levels further, without compromising capacity. Therefore, to facilitate innovation in noise reduction, the government is considering whether to increase the current volume or size limitation and is seeking feedback on this through the consultation process.
The permitted development right currently doesn’t apply where the development would result in more than one air source heat pump on or within the curtilage of the dwellinghouse or block of flats. The government is seeking views on whether this limitation could be amended to allow for more heat pumps to be installed.
To sum up what I discussed today:
- The government has announced a consultation on changes to Permitted Development Rights, which would introduce changes for householders, upwards development, demolition and rebuild, vehicle charging changes, and air source heat pumps
- This consultation will last 8 weeks from February to April.
- Some of the householder changes include increasing single-storey and two-storey extension extents, removing the 50% limit of curtilage coverage by extensions and outbuildings, allowing wrap-around extensions, removal of the dormer cubic metre limit, allowing dormers to be extended to the edge of the eaves where the dormer is not visible from the street, also allowance to raise the roof by 300mm and allowance to have bin and bike stores erected forward of the front elevation.
- In terms of the demolition and rebuild changes, currently, there’s a limitation in place that this right to demolish does not apply if the original building was constructed after 31 December 1989. The view is whether to remove this limitation so that buildings built after this date can benefit from this permitted development right.
- In terms of rebuild, the view is on whether to impose an age limit to protect old buildings from being demolished and allowing a larger footprint to be rebuilt where the original building was.
- The EV changes are to remove the limitations on the size and location of the outlets so that wall-mounted outlets and upstands can be installed anywhere within an area lawfully used for off-street parking.
- And lastly, seeking changes to allow more easier deployment of air source heat pumps and removing the current limitations in place such as noise, in order to support the decarbonisation of heating.
