Space standards to apply to new homes delivered through Permitted Development Rights

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All new homes in England delivered through Permitted Development Rights will have to meet minimum space standards, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has announced.

Permitted Development Rights are a national grant of planning permission allowing certain building works and changes of use to be carried out without having to make a full planning application. This enables existing buildings to be converted into homes under a lighter-touch 'prior approval' process.

Over the last four years, more than 60,000 homes have been created as a result of Permitted Development Rights. However, a minority of developers have been delivering small homes without justification.

The new measures will mean that all new homes in England delivered through these rights will in the future have to meet the Nationally Described Space Standard.

This standard begins at 37m² of floorspace for a new one-bed flat with a shower room (39m² with a bathroom), ensuring proper living space for a single occupier.

Jenrick said: 'Permitted Development Rights are helping to deliver new homes and making an important contribution to our economic recovery from the pandemic, supporting our high streets by encouraging the regeneration of disused buildings and boosting our housing industry to safeguard the jobs of builders, plumbers and electricians.

'The pandemic has further highlighted the importance of having somewhere secure and comfortable to live. While most developers deliver good homes and do the right thing, I'm tackling the minority of developers abusing the system by announcing that new homes delivered will have to meet space standards.'

The change builds on reforms introduced last summer to ensure that all new homes delivered through permitted development provide adequate natural light.

 

 

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