The UK government's plans to extend permitted development rights will produce tiny "sub-standard homes" warns the Royal Institute of British Architects.
The new laws will allow developers to convert commercial and retail buildings into housing without making a full planning application extending permitted development (PD) rights that already allow office buildings to be converted.
"No evidence that the planning system is to blame for the shortage of housing"
"The extension of this policy is truly disgraceful," said Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) president Alan Jones.
"There is no evidence that the planning system is to blame for the shortage of housing, and plenty to suggest that leaving local communities powerless in the face of developers seeking short-term returns will lead to poor results," Jones added. "Even the government's own advisors concluded that permitted development had 'permissioned future slums' ? allowing sub-standard homes to be built with little to no natural light and smaller than budget hotel rooms."
Jones' comment about "future slums" is a direct quote from the final report from the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission, which advised that local authorities be given powers to set higher standards for PD schemes.
Law designed to cut "unnecessary bureaucracy"
Law changes will also mean full planning applications will no longer be needed to demolish buildings and...