The Liberal Democrat on South Oxfordshire District Council have successfully had a motion passed at their latest full council meeting, which called for a review on the wide-ranging impact of permitted development rights that allows offices to be converted into residential homes without planning permission
The motion says: “Council notes the views of the Local Government Association and the Royal Town Planning Institute, who recognise that problems have been caused by the 2013 deregulation of the Planning System which allows offices to be converted into homes without planning permission. Currently, developers do not have to contribute towards affordable Social Housing or local infrastructure and there is no ability to consider whether the development provides suitable levels of internal or external amenity space, privacy, sunlight, daylight or outlook. Council asks the leader of the council to write to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to call for a review of the wide-ranging impacts of permitted development rights which allow change of use into residential homes”.
The Liberal Democrat District Councillor and Ward member for Thame, Cllr Kate Gregory said: “Currently developers do not have to contribute towards affordable housing or local infrastructure and there is no ability to consider whether the development provides suitable levels of amenity space, privacy or sunlight.
We also have the issue with job loss space. When an office is converted to residential use office floor space is lost and in Thame alone, we have lost 654 jobs worth of office space since 2013.
Permitted Development Rights effectively gives developers a free pass to create new homes of any type, of any quality in any location providing the building began its life as an office.
Some of the horror stories include homes of just 13.7m2 and homes with no windows. When the office to residential change first came into place, I don’t believe this was the intention and it desperately needs reviewing.”
