Council Set To Block ‘Undemocratic’ Permitted Development Rights From Next Month

Reading Borough Council is set to block the future use of planning laws in parts of the town which allow developers and owners to by-pass the planning application system and build substandard homes for profit.

From mid-November, the Council intends to introduce what is known as an ‘Article 4 Direction’ in parts of Reading. This will prevent certain permitted development rights going ahead without consultation with neighbours and the local planning authority.

At the moment, Permitted Development Rights (PDR) allow changes to be made to a building without the need to apply for planning permission. They have increasingly been used to permit conversion of commercial and retail premises to residential properties.

The Council is not against development, but strongly opposes this use of PDR because:

• PDR can often lead to new residents being introduced into areas considered wholly inappropriate as a place to live, due to noise, disturbance and air quality issues. This can leave residents unhappy and the Council having to pick up the pieces at public expense
• Flats which were previously office accommodation are often substandard, poor quality conversions with little or no outdoor space
• More than four in every five new PDR homes are one bedroom or studio, completely ignoring the local identified need for homes of different sizes set out in the Council's Local Plan
• 55,000 sq m of office accommodation has been lost in Reading due to PDR, with the loss of a further 31,000 sq m on the horizon. This reduces the space available to local businesses and can impact existing businesses by limiting their ability to operate and expand
• PDR is estimated to have cost the town nearly 600 new affordable homes along with the loss of at least £3.5 million in off-site contributions to affordable housing. Nearly £4 million in planning fees and education, leisure and transport contributions, has been lost since 2013

A report to the Council’s Policy Committee on Monday October 31 will ask Councillors to agree the implementation of the Article 4 Direction in areas of Reading from November 15, to prevent developers and owners from harming local communities through the use of PDR. The Policy Report can be found at https://democracy.reading.gov.uk/documents/s23853/Article%204%20Direction%20confirmation.pdf

As well as blocking commercial to residential conversions without planning permission, the Article 4 Direction would also prevent adding residential storeys onto commercial buildings and demolishing commercial buildings and rebuilding them as residential units, without the local planning authority approving the plans.

If approved, the Article 4 Direction would apply to the town centre, district and local centres, core employment areas and other primarily commercial locations, as well as areas of poorest air quality.

Micky Leng, Reading Borough Council’s Lead Councillor for Planning, said:

“Having seen first-hand the detrimental impact the use of these planning laws can have on communities, Reading is now taking a stand. Owners and developers have been riding roughshod over the views of neighbours and the local planning process for too many years. Their motivation is profit and they often have little or no interest in the views of people who live in the vicinity of these developments.

“I want to be clear. This is not the Council saying it is anti-development. We are acutely aware of the desperate need for more homes, particularly affordable homes, in Reading.  This is about fairness and ensuring all developments go through the correct democratic planning process, which should be the same process whether you are an owner or a larger developer.

“If agreed next week, the Article 4 Direction will come into effect on November 15 and would apply to a number of areas across the town, including in areas of Reading with poor air quality.

“The idea behind the change is to give the Council and communities more control over developments through the planning process, to help protect the existing office and industrial supply and to guard against conversions which are harmful to local neighbourhoods. Importantly, it will also allow the consideration of other essential planning considerations - such as affordable housing or amenity space provision – which would not otherwise be possible with the PDR in force, and which I’m sure will be welcomed by all Councillors.

“Reading has been vociferous on this subject, and indeed objected to the original introduction of office to residential PDR almost a decade ago now.  It is essential the correct planning framework is in place nationally to enable local councils to keep an overview of local planning decisions. Councils must retain the ability to insist that developers make an appropriate contribution to local infrastructure and affordable housing, as opposed to solely increasing their profit margins at our expense.”

It should be noted the Secretary of State retains powers to modify or cancel Article 4 Directions. Over the last few months Council officers have engaged in discussions with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and submitted further evidence to reduce the scope of its original proposals. While no response has yet been forthcoming from Government, the DLUHC has advised the best approach is to proceed with the Article 4 Direction, in line with what other local authorities are doing, and the SoS retains the power to intervene and cancel the direction if they choose to.