Member Article

Relaxation of planning laws could boost supply of homes

In the March Budget Chancellor George Osborne announced that he would review the General Permitted Development Order (GDPO) to simplify planning laws and make it easier to convert warehouses and light industrial buildings into residential properties.

It was hardly headline-grabbing news for people with no interest in property. For professionals within the industry, however, it was a welcome announcement that should give the commercial and residential markets a timely shot in the arm.

As part of the review process, proposals are being drawn up by the government to introduce a three-tier system under which small-scale changes would benefit from permitted development rights. Large-scale developments would still require planning permission, while developments that need consideration of specific issues would go through a prior approval process.

This review is long overdue. The complexity of current planning laws has been a bugbear for the industry for several years.

There would be several benefits to a simplified, three-tier system. Effectively it would help to remove obsolete stock from the commercial market, create much-needed new homes and stimulate more activity in the residential market.

There are other benefits for the commercial market. Businesses will be given more flexibility to expand facilities such as car parks and loading bays, providing that this does not have an adverse impact on the local community.

Not everyone agrees with the changes. Some organisations have flagged up concerns that a relaxation of planning procedures will lead to inappropriate use of certain sites. For example, currently unoccupied warehouses may be unsuitable, and in the wrong location, for conversion into residential properties.

However, if a common sense approach is taken to each project,“ the government could impose a ceiling on the size of warehouse to be converted, for example, surely this is a challenge that can be overcome.

I only hope that this is not kicked into the long grass by the government, which has not yet set a date by which the review will take place. Action is needed sooner rather than later to maintain recent momentum in the market.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Bradley Hall .