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https://www.ft.com/content/48fbe55c-ffb2-11e8-ac00-57a2a826423e
Again another ill thought out policy.
But critics say the provision, which ministers want to expand, has undermined key aspects of a system built up over more than 100 years to prevent dwellings that are unsafe or unfit for habitation. Ministers expanded so-called “permitted development rights” (PDRs) five years ago to enable office buildings to be converted to housing with no need for planning permission, in an attempt to push forward construction of new homes.
Expanding permitted development was “probably the worst housing policy mistake in the postwar era”, he argued. “Left to their own devices, real estate investors will see opportunities to deliver cheap, profitable developments to low standards.
Again another ill thought out policy.
But critics say the provision, which ministers want to expand, has undermined key aspects of a system built up over more than 100 years to prevent dwellings that are unsafe or unfit for habitation. Ministers expanded so-called “permitted development rights” (PDRs) five years ago to enable office buildings to be converted to housing with no need for planning permission, in an attempt to push forward construction of new homes.
Expanding permitted development was “probably the worst housing policy mistake in the postwar era”, he argued. “Left to their own devices, real estate investors will see opportunities to deliver cheap, profitable developments to low standards.