Government bans PDR micro-homes
Housing secretary Robert Jenrick has announced that new homes delivered through permitted development rights will be required to meet national space standards.
This will mean no home will be delivered under 37 sq m, the minimum size for a one-bedroom flat.
Permitted development rights, which allow development without the need for planning applications and local authority approvals, have been criticised for creating a surge of small homes that critics have dubbed the “slums of the future”.
Housing secretary Robert Jenrick has announced that new homes delivered through permitted development rights will be required to meet national space standards.
This will mean no home will be delivered under 37 sq m, the minimum size for a one-bedroom flat.
Permitted development rights, which allow development without the need for planning applications and local authority approvals, have been criticised for creating a surge of small homes that critics have dubbed the “slums of the future”.
Last year, an EG investigation revealed a surge of micro-homes in London following the introduction of PDR in 2013, in a £1bn industry.
With no requirement for size, developers have built and sold or rented homes as small as 8.3 sq m. The new standard means a one-bedroom flat with a shower cannot be smaller than 37 sq m, or 39 sq m if it has a bath.
This month, the government expanded PDR to allow the conversion of all vacant commercial properties for housing. Industry bodies the Royal Town Planning Institute, RIBA, RICS and the Chartered Institute of Building have fought the proposals, arguing that the legislation would allow poor development that could harm the quality of life of residents.
It followed an independent report commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, which concluded that PDR conversions create worse environments, raising concerns over “health, wellbeing and quality of life”.
Jenrick said: “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 am tackling the minority of developers abusing the system by announcing that new homes delivered will have to meet space standards.”
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