Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Permitted Development: Urban Homes

Monday 22 January 2024 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial Questions on Permitted Development: Urban Homes took place on 2024-01-22
  • John Penrose inquired about assessing the merits of allowing urban homeowners to increase their property to four storeys
  • The Minister responded that national permitted development rights exist to allow extensions up to two additional storeys and that local design codes will be applied

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 John Penrose Con
Housing
Context

No specific background context provided. The question is about a potential assessment of the merits of permitting urban homeowners to increase their property to four storeys.

Question

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of a permitted development right for urban homeowners to increase their property to four storeys where that complies with the local authority's design code.

Answer from Lee Rowley

We have introduced national permitted development rights to allow a wide range of existing residential and commercial buildings to extend upwards by up to two additional storeys. We have also recently consulted on proposals to apply local design codes to those rights and further announcements will be made in due course.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific request for an assessment of increasing properties to four storeys was not addressed directly.

How: Consulting On Proposals, Further Announcements

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Q2 John Penrose Con
Housing
Context

The questioner urges the Minister to go further and faster with permitted development rights, emphasizing potential benefits for urban townscapes, housebuilding, cost reduction, environmental impact, wealth creation, and protecting rural landscapes.

Question

May I urge the Minister to go further and faster on this? The permitted development rights would create beautiful urban townscapes and unleash the biggest wave of housebuilding in half a century, which would in turn cut housing costs to rent or buy, be greener by allowing people to live within bicycling or walking distance from work and protecting rural landscapes from urban sprawl and, by increasing the development potential of almost any urban building, be the biggest single act of wealth creation in decades. What's to dislike?

Answer from Lee Rowley

There is absolutely nothing to dislike, as my hon. Friend indicates, about speeding up the planning system to ensure we get the houses we so badly need. As I know my hon. Friend will appreciate, however, there is always a balance to be struck: we must ensure that we take local people with us, but we are committed to building more houses, and doing so in the right places.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific request for urgency was not addressed directly; instead, emphasis on balancing speed with community engagement.

How: Balance, Commitment

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