Government Introduced Permitted Development Rights & Changes to the Use Classes Order: ‘The two storey above’
The Government has introduced two further Statutory Instruments amending the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 (“the General Permitted Development Order”), together with a Statutory Instrument amending the Town and County Planning (Use Classes ) Order 1987 (“the Use Classes Order”).
This follows the introduction of new permitted development rights for upwards extensions to purpose-built blocks of flats and forms part of the Government’s promised package of radical planning reform to support economic recovery and housing delivery.
Permitted Development Rights for Additional Storeys to Dwellinghouses
The Town and County Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2020 confer permanent permitted development rights to allow existing houses to be extended by way of the addition of up to 2 storeys. The rights apply to existing houses which are detached, semi-detached or in a terrace. They are subject to a maximum height limit of 18m, and where the house is in a terrace its height cannot be more than 3.5m higher than the next tallest house in the terrace. The rights only apply to houses built between 1 July 1948 and 28 October 2018 and do not apply in Conservation Areas. There is a requirement to obtain prior approval in relation to the impact on the amenity of neighbouring premises, the external appearance, and the impacts a taller building may have on air traffic and defence assets.
Permitted Development Rights for Additional Storeys to Create Dwellings
The above Order also introduce a new Class AA and AB to Part 20 of the General Permitted Development Order to allow the construction of up to 2 additional storeys on free standing blocks and on buildings in a terrace that are in certain commercial uses (including A1, A2, A3 and B1(a)), and in mixed uses with an element of housing, to create additional self-contained homes. The rights are subject to a maximum height limit of 30m for detached buildings and 18m for terraces.
A new Class AC and AD to Part 20 to the General Permitted Development Order will allow up to 2 additional storeys to be constructed on existing houses which are detached or in a terrace to create new self-contained homes. The rights are subject to a maximum height limit for the newly extended building of 18m and it cannot be more than 3.5m higher than the next tallest house in the terrace.
These rights apply to houses and buildings built between 1 July 1948 and 5 March 2018 and they have to have been in one of the relevant uses or mixed uses on 5 March 2018. The rights will not apply in Conservation Areas or to listed buildings or scheduled monuments. There is a requirement to obtain prior approval in relation to the transport and highway impacts of the development, contamination and flooding risks, the external appearance, impact on amenity, the provision of adequate natural light in all habitable rooms of the new homes, noise impact from existing commercial uses, impact on surrounding businesses and the impact on air traffic and defence assets.
Permitted Development Rights for Demolition and Rebuild for Residential Use
The Town and County Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) (Amendment) (No. 3) Order 2020 will introduce a new Class ZA to the General Permitted Development Order conferring permanent permitted development rights to allow for the demolition of vacant and redundant free-standing buildings that fell within use class B1 and C3 on 12 March 2020, and their replacement with residential development. The rights apply to purpose-built residential blocks of flats only, and therefore do not apply to terraced buildings, detached dwellings or mixed-use buildings. The rights will also only apply to buildings constructed prior to 1 January 1990 that have been entirely vacant for at least 6 months prior to the application for prior approval. The development, consisting of both demolition and replacement build, must be completed within three years of the date of the grant of prior approval.
There are various limits placed on the scale of the development permitted, including that it must be within the footprint of the original building with a footprint of up to 1,000 sq m and with a maximum height of 18m. There is a requirement to obtain prior approval in relation to the transport and highway impacts of the development, contamination and flooding risks, the impact of noise from other premises on the future residents, design and external appearance of the new building, the adequacy of natural light in all habitable rooms of each new dwelling, the impact of the introduction of residential use into an area, and the impact of the development on the amenity of the new building and of neighbouring premises, impacts of noise from commercial premises, the impact on surrounding businesses, impact on heritage and archaeology, the method of demolition, plans for landscaping and the impact on air traffic and defence. The rights will not apply in Conservation Areas or to listed buildings or scheduled monuments.
Links to above legislation:
Class AA – enlargement of a dwellinghouse by construction of additional storeys): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/755/article/3/made
New dwellings on detached blocks of flats: legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/632/regulation/22/made