New 2012 Relaxed Planning Laws

This year to help the economic recovery in England, planning laws have been relaxed by the government, it is only on a temporary basis at the moment but one of the main rules being relaxed is that of extending domestic properties which may prove beneficial to a lot of home owners who want to improve or extend their property

Approx 200,000 people apply each year for planning permission to improve, extend or add to their domestic properties, these home owners often have to wait a number of months for their application to be looked at. Approx 90% of these applications end up being approved but the waiting can be frustrating for home owners and their building company.

Existing “permitted development” rules means you do not need planning permission for small one story rear extensions that do not extend past the boundaries of your existing house by a certain amount. (detached properties by 4 metres, semi-detached by 3 metres) These set limits under the new rules are being doubled so less people will need to go through the planning process and people waiting to get permission may be able to start work sooner, this will speed up the building industries turn over and in turn helping with the economic climate without additional fees or delays.

Two story developments will still need to go through the original planning consent as will loft extensions. Planning has also been relaxed for business owners too allowing them to expand their premises substantially without gaining planning permission. Industrial units will be able to expand by more than 2000 sq ft without planning and shopkeepers will be able to add to their shop space by over 1000 sq ft.

The government have relaxed these planning laws temporarily and will be reviewing them again in 2015 when who knows it may be put into practice full time to enable home owners more decisions over their own properties while also encouraging a growth in the construction trade.