The Scottish Government has launched a major consultation on proposals which would mean householders would no longer need planning permission for major home improvements and large extensions.
Proposed changes to existing Householder Permitted Development Rights have been designed to simplify the rules and free up planning officers’ time allowing them to concentrate on large and complex applications.
Each year planning authorities in Scotland receive some 40,000 applications, of which 20,000 relate to householder development. The consultation document states that the majority of these 20,000 applications relate to single-storey extensions, of which 97 per cent are approved with little or no amendments.
Among other measures the consultation has recommended that home owners would be able to build a single-storey extension to the rear of a home to a size equivalent to 50 per cent of the entire plot, instead of the 24 sq m currently permitted. The proposed rules also said there must be the same area of garden undeveloped as developed.
The changes to proposed permitted development rights would not apply to protected listed buildings or in conservation areas, where existing planning restrictions will remain.
The Scottish Government has estimated that, if adopted, the proposals would result in a 20-25 per cent reduction in planning applications from home owners.
Separately, Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) Director Dr Seán O’Reilly noted that ‘ if the government dispensed with the need for planning permission altogether it should lead to 100 per cent reduction in planning applications for everyone, but cautioned against that thinking’.
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