Permitted Development Rights should not mean substandard homes

• Permitted Development Rights (PDR) allow certain changes to a building’s use without the need to seek planning permission. The scheme was made permanent in 2015.
• Loopholes can allow substandard homes that undermine standards and regulations.
• Housing created under the PDR scheme can be used as temporary accommodation for homeless households. There are reports that this housing is often small and poor quality.

The London Assembly Planning Committee investigated the advantages and disadvantages of changing the use of a building from commercial or office use to residential homes and looked into the quality of housing that is being produced through PDR.



The Committee has written to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Governance, Robert Jenrick MP, with key findings and a number of recommendations, including:

• Improve the quality of housing by creating a set of universal standards for housing that developments must meet, regardless of whether they are developed with planning permission or through permitted development rights.
• Provide guidance to local authorities to ensure that existing office-to-residential developments are not used to house vulnerable people in substandard accommodation.
• Ensure that prior approvals are not used to undermine building standards.
• Use powers to ensure that local planning authorities strike the appropriate balance between residential and commercial/ office land space demand.
• Ensure that residential conversions are in appropriate locations, promote a sense of community and that residents have access to transport links, green spaces, and local amenities.
• Ensure that any upward extension of PDR does not lead to the deterioration of building safety, quality or aesthetics.

Andrew Boff AM, Chairman of the Planning Committee, said:

“Permitted Development Rights (PDR) should not lead to tiny, poor, substandard homes, but we know this is the case. We must urgently act to create a set of universal standards for housing that developments, both with planning permission and PDR, must meet.”

“There are a number of loopholes within the system, which mean some developers abide by higher standards and fees, while other developers may not. We need to make greater efforts to ensure a level playing field.”

“It is important for London to get the right level of affordable homes it needs, but this must not come at the expense of quality and to the detriment of people, who may have no choice but to live in cramped, poor quality homes.”