» Planning restrictions on loft conversions to be scrapped

£1000 could be saved by axing red tape

Article Published: 11th September 2008

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Caroline Flint, the Housing Minister, has announced that the government is to relax planning restrictions on loft conversions and extensions, saving homeowners as much as £1,000. The minister said that it was to help families who have run out of space and could not afford to move home. This was announced on the same day that figures were released to show that the UK’s homes were the smallest in Europe.

The Venice Architecture Biennale, which opens today, will examine why the quality of British housing is so inferior as far as floor space is concerned. New builds in places like Essex have a footprint of 34 metres compared to the average of France’s new builds which are a generous 112 square metres and in Denmark where the square footage is double that of the UK’s. England and Wales are the only places in Europe where the house builders are unregulated by legally binding minimum space requirements.

Critics of the abolition of planning consent for extensions and loft conversions say this could increase disputes between neighbours as the most contentious issues revolve around being overlooked rather than any other issue. Ministers say that the abolition will mean a decrease planning applications by almost 25 per cent.