{"id":30935,"date":"2021-08-20T16:43:46","date_gmt":"2021-08-20T15:43:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsblogsnew.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=30935"},"modified":"2021-08-20T16:43:46","modified_gmt":"2021-08-20T15:43:46","slug":"tcpa-80-of-shops-on-high-streets-could-be-lost-to-pdrs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=30935","title":{"rendered":"TCPA: 80% of shops on high streets could be \u2018lost\u2019 to PDRs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"streetNew research from the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) = \u2018Our fragile high streets: Death by permitted development rights?\u2019 \u2013 explores risks to high street posed by change of planning laws.<\/h3>\n

image: for illustration purposes only – Open Government Licence v3.0<\/em><\/h6>\n

<\/p>\n

\u2026 research has shown, in urban areas around 80% of shops and premises could be converted to homes and local plan policies and design codes would not apply\u2026<\/span><\/em><\/h2>\n

TCPA writes:<\/p>\n

New research<\/a>\u00a0from the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) and University College London (UCL) reveals that\u00a080% of shops and other commercial premises on highstreets across England could be lost because of further changes to planning rules.<\/p>\n

Lively, useful and safe town centres and high streets are crucially important to the wellbeing of communities. They are the hearts of our towns and cities \u2013 they are where we go to socialise, buy groceries, or access important support services such as childcare. In recent years, though, high streets across England have been ravaged by the rise of online retailing and the impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic. In response, the government has made bold claims about \u2018reinvigorating\u2019 them, \u2018levelling up\u2019 \u2018left-behind\u2019 places, and \u2018building beautiful\u2019. But at the same time as making these claims it has actually stripped away councils\u2019 ability to shape their local places, or ensure that new homes are fit to live in.<\/p>\n

With little fanfare, the government has this week (1 August) changed planning rules in England so that\u00a0the vast majority of shops and other commercial buildings, including restaurants, cafes, offices, gyms, nurseries, day centres and light industrial units, can be made into homes without planning permission.<\/p>\n

This is the first research to map the effect of these changes, and assess the potentially devastating impact they could have on highstreets and town centres across England. Examining four case study areas representing different types of built environment \u2013 Barnet, Crawley, Huntingdonshire, and Leicester \u2013 it found that\u00a080.3% of shops and other commercial buildings could be lost to residential conversion. This figure was as high as 89% for Barnet. In Leicester and Crawley it stands at 77%, and in Huntingdonshire, 75%.\u00a0Clearly, anywhere near this reduction in commercial premises \u2013 whether shops, caf\u00e9s, restaurants, gyms, nurseries, or day centres \u2013 would rip the hearts out of our communities.<\/p>\n

More widely, these changes will mean that Councils have very little say over what happens to their highstreets and whether new housing meets people\u2019s needs. Communities will have no say at all. Planners will only be allowed to assess new developments against a short list of requirements drawn up by central government.<\/p>\n

These changes signal the latest in a series of expansions of PDRs by the Government since 2013. This is despite PDRs being widely criticised for producing large numbers of shockingly low-quality homes which are undermining people\u2019s health and wellbeing.<\/p>\n

The latest changes have been undertaken by government as part of their attempts to revitalise high streets, which have been hit hard by the rise of online retailing and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. And to deliver more homes. But by continuing to deregulate they are further stripping away councils\u2019 ability to shape their local places, and ensure that new homes are of a high quality and meet people\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n

Fiona Howie, The TCPA\u2019s chief executive, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recognise the need for more homes and the desire to regenerate high streets. But we need new homes to be high quality and for town centres to be able to provide a mixture of services and amenity space.\u00a0This latest expansion of PDRs further reduces the ability of\u00a0local authorities and communities\u00a0to shape their local areas. This is not the right approach if government really wants to \u2018build back better\u2019 and to revitalise our high streets.<\/p>\n

This latest expansion of PDRs also contradicts the government\u2019s recent emphasis on high quality design and beauty. Design codes could be a powerful tool but, as this research has shown, in urban areas around 80% of shops and premises could be converted to homes and\u00a0local plan policies and design codes would not apply.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lord Crisp, independent crossbench member of the House of Lords, co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Health and former chief executive of the NHS in England, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know the profound impacts that people\u2019s homes and communities can have on their health, wellbeing and life chances.\u00a0We must see the changing high streets as an opportunity to develop housing that promotes physical and mental health and wellbeing – a real opportunity to build back better after the pandemic. It requires vision, creativity and a real commitment to quality.\u00a0The TCPA have developed a range of principles, which together define what constitutes healthy homes and neighbourhoods. The principles consider issues such as fire risk, heat and noise insulation, and highlight wider issues such as the importance of access to green spaces and amenities. These need to be enshrined in law to make sure that all new homes support people\u2019s mental and physical health. and wellbeing\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more….<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New research from the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) = \u2018Our fragile high streets: Death by permitted development rights?\u2019 \u2013 explores risks to high street posed by change of planning laws. image: for illustration purposes only – Open Government … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sector-newsblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30935"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30936,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30935\/revisions\/30936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}