Alterations to Permitted Rural Development Revealed by Raab

Up to 5 houses can be built from “existing agricultural buildings” on a farm, as opposed to the current limit of 3, following alterations to permitted rural development rights as announced by Dominic Raab, the housing minister.

“Several hundred” homes are developed annually through the conversion of agricultural buildings, per the government, and this number is anticipated to rise.

To assist in reaching local housing needs “more efficiently”, the amendments plan to support communities make the “best use of existing buildings”.

Additionally, there is a goal to maintain people’s privacy and ensure developments are “in keeping” with the local area.

Per the government, for bigger farms, raising the maximum size of new agricultural buildings from 465 square meters to 1,000 square meters will assist farmers in adopting “the latest innovations in modern farming practices.”

If housing needs of rural communities are to be met, more creativity is needed, said Raab.

Dominic Raab said:

“That’s why I’m changing planning rules so rural communities have more flexibility on how best to use existing buildings to deliver more much-needed homes for families. This is part of our comprehensive reform programme to build the homes Britain needs.”

To assist in easing local housing pressures, the government added that applicants will be granted an additional year to alter storage and distribution buildings into houses.

It was mentioned by the planning policy officer at the RTPI, Harry Burchill, that the supply of affordable rural housing is an “important priority” for the planning system.

However, Harry Burchill said:

“The use of permitted development rights to meet this priority is not an approach consistent with local plan or even neighbourhood plan led decision making.

“The institute previously raised its concerns about chipping away planning powers from local authorities through the introduction, and extension, of permitted development rights. In practice, the so-called bureaucracy permitted development rights are designed to circumvent still exists in the form of prior approval applications – for a fraction of the fee. More importantly, however, it is unclear how the incremental relaxation of planning regulations will assist the government in delivering the right homes in the right places. Our work studying the location of development goes some way to addressing this question and we will be interested to see how additional homes on agricultural land, allowed through permitted development rights will effect this picture.”

Kindly shared by Dev Assist