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Alister King Smith PGDip MRICS, Head of Stags Planning Services, outlines the most recent changes to Permitted Development Rights.
Many people will already be aware of the permitted development rights to convert agricultural buildings to residential dwellings. However, less may not yet have spotted that as of the 6th April 2018, the Government made some exciting changes to the legislation which provides further opportunities. The basic premise of these changes is to increase the number of dwellings that can be created on an agricultural unit from three to five, and to allow an increased floor area to be given over to residential use. Under the old wording the maximum floor area that could be given over was 460 square metres, now, with the right approach, the maximum area is 865 square metres. However, in order to make full use of the floor area limit, a property owner needs to commit to providing a number of ‘smaller homes’, with a ‘smaller home’ being one of no more than 100 square metres in floor area.
This increase in area may really help those who looked at Class Q before but did not proceed as they were unsure what do with any remaining buildings.
In addition to the amendments to the legislation the Government has also released changes to the accompanying guidance to make it clearer that many internal works, including, in many cases, inserting second floors is acceptable.
“It is really good to see the government making changes to the legislation and guidance although there are still quite a few quirks and we would strongly advise taking professional advice early in the process” says Alister King-Smith of Stags Planning Services.
For further information about these changes to permitted development rights, or for any other planning matters, contact Stags Professional Services to be put in touch with your local professional.
