England’s Ministers have outlined a system incorporating a ‘light touch’ neighbour consultation scheme as part of the administration’s proposal to grant permitted development rights for larger house extensions for a period of three years.
Details were unveiled in a letter to MPs and Peers and outlined during Parliamentary debates about amendments to the Growth and Infrastructure Bill.
Under these proposals, which will require secondary legislation, homeowners wishing to build extensions under the new powers would have to notify their local council with the details. The council would then inform the adjoining neighbours. If no objections are made to the council by the neighbours within 21 days the development could proceed.
If objections are raised by neighbours, the council would consider whether the development would have an unacceptable impact on neighbours’ amenity.
Speaking in the Lords, Communities and Local Government Minister Baroness Hanham said: ‘It will be up to individual councils to decide how they handle the consideration of these proposals. We would expect it to work in the same way as for planning decisions: that is, for the council to decide whether the decisions are delegated to officers or made by a planning committee.
‘If approval is not given, the home owner will be able to appeal against a refusal or may wish to submit a full planning application. The home owner will be able to appeal against a refusal of consent but, as with normal planning consents, neighbours will not be able to appeal against a grant of permission.’
‘This approval process will not be onerous and we do not expect that it will impose significant costs on local authorities, but we will discuss this and other implementation issues with the Local Government Association.’
She added: ‘These proposals should remove the need for local authorities to feel that they have to resort to using Article 4 directions to remove the new permitted development rights.’?During the debate in the Lords Baroness Hanham confirmed the new permitted development rights would not apply in conservation areas.
Read the Lords Hansard record (22 April; column 1229) at: LINK
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