Development Rules
Changes to Permitted Development Rules
Permitted development changes confirmed by Government
Housing and planning minister John Healey has confirmed further reforms to the planning system in England which should remove the need for thousands of full planning applications, in the process cutting costs and red tape for businesses.
The reforms, consulted on last year and recommended in the Killian Pretty Review, will remove an estimated 10,000 full planning applications from the system and allow industrial premises, offices, shops and schools to quickly and easily undertake minor developments without the need for planning permission.
This move follows the Improving Permitted Development (IPD) consultation which took forward recommendations from the Killian Pretty Review for removing the requirement to apply for planning permission for certain forms of non-domestic development.
Shops will now be able to extend their floor space by up to a maximum of 50 square metres without the need to apply for planning permission, and schools, hospitals and universities will be able to more easily build new facilities. These new rights will be subject to certain constraints which are designed to minimise impacts on neighbouring properties and the wider environment.
The measures just introduced focus on changes to permitted development, which remove the need to make a planning application. At a later date, replacement shop fronts and installing cash points will also be subject to a simpler, cheaper and quicker planning process, called prior approval.
These changes form a series of updates in response to the Killian Pretty Review which, when fully introduced, will save up to £180m a year for developers, ministers have estimated.
John Healey said: "Taking simpler applications out of the planning system will help councils process major applications faster, and save businesses up to £43m a year. This is in addition to over £120m worth of savings from cutting the amount of information required in planning applications and making planning permissions more flexible."
Submitted by ARW on Tuesday 17th August 2010
