Michael Gove set to unveil planning shake-up where Britons could gain new freedoms to extend their properties and turn empty shops into homes
- Housing Secretary will set out a review of permitted development rights
- Plans to make it easier to convert betting shops and offices into homes
- Michael Gove says Britain must ‘make better use of buildings we already have’
Britons could gain new freedoms to extend their properties and turn empty shops into homes, Michael Gove will announce tomorrow.
The Housing Secretary will set out a review of permitted development rights in a bid to shake up planning rules.
He will outline plans to make it easier to convert large shops – such as takeaways and bookmakers – and offices into homes.
Red tape could also be cut to enable barn conversions with Mr Gove arguing that Britain must ‘make better use of the buildings we already have’.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said the proposals to relax rules around the use of retail space is designed to help rejuvenate high streets and provide greater density of housing in inner cities, rather than encouraging urban sprawl.
Housing Secretary Michael Gove will set out a review of permitted development rights in a bid to shake up planning rules
Mr Gove will say: ‘Britain needs more homes to fulfil more dreams of home ownership and increase choice for renters.
‘But they must be of the right type and targeted in the right places.
‘So we must build more in the places that make sense – in our inner cities so that we protect our countryside.
‘Empty shops or offices cannot be gathering dust while we have an urgent need for more homes.
‘That is why we are reviewing the rules around permitted development rights to make sure we can regenerate, build and grow.’
But his Labour counterpart Lisa Nandy last night mocked the review announcement, saying: ‘Britain desperately needs more homes, but another review is a drop in the ocean compared to what is needed to fix the housing crisis.
Michael Gove will outline plans to make it easier to convert large shops – such as takeaways and bookmakers – and offices into homes
‘We don’t need more reviews – we need bold action to get Britain building.’
She said Labour would restore housing targets and reform compulsory purchase rule.
The announcement comes only two weeks after a cross-party panel of MPs warned that Tory ministers are unlikely to deliver 300,000 new homes per year after making the target advisory rather than mandatory.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak decided in December to downgrade the target’s status as he looked to see off a potential Conservative backbench rebellion.
The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee, in a report published earlier this month, said its inquiry into the policy change had seen it told that the six-figure target would be ‘impossible to achieve’ by the mid-2020s.
Clive Betts, the Labour committee chairman, said Mr Sunak’s decision was ‘already having a damaging impact on efforts to increase the building of new homes’.
Labour’s Ms Nandy has already announced plans to make it easier to build on unsightly parts of the greenbelt if party leader Sir Keir Starmer is elected prime minister at the next election, expected to be held in 2024.
Sir Keir has also pledged to restore the 300,000 housing target.
Labour’s Ms Nandy has announced plans to make it easier to build on unsightly parts of the greenbelt if party leader Sir Keir Starmer is elected prime minister at the next election
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