By Richard Johnstone | 15 April 2013
The Local Government Association has today urged MPs to halt plans for a ‘free-for-all’ on home extensions that could have a negative impact on local communities.
Tomorrow, the House of Commons will vote on an amendment to the Growth and Infrastructure Bill, passed by the House of Lords, which would allow councils to ‘opt out’ of plans to allow extensions to be built without planning permission. The Bill proposes that single-storey extensions of up to 26 feet could be built without the need for consent or consultation with neighbours.
However, the LGA has warned this could lead to ‘thousands of unsightly and unsuitable extensions’, with disputes between neighbours and increased flood risk. Around 22,000 extensions were denied consent last year because of concerns over issues such as drainage and impact on neighbours’ privacy. Under the government’s plans, such unsuitable plans would be allowed to go ahead, the LGA said.
Mike Jones, chair of the LGA’s environment and housing board, said councils already approve 90% of home extension applications. But the proposed change would mean extensions that could have been improved through the planning process would go ahead unaltered.
A system that would allow individual local authorities to opt out of the exemption would therefore be a ‘common sense compromise’, Jones added.
‘Councils of all political colours are urging their local MPs to take on board concerns of local residents by supporting a local opt-out. MPs know how strongly householders feel about planning issues and owe it to their constituencies to give local areas a say.
‘We agree with the government that stimulating the construction industry is essential to economic recovery but sweeping national changes which remove the rights of residents to have a say on development is not the answer.’
He added that the government could deliver a much bigger boost to the construction industry by removing the cap on local authority borrowing to invest in housing.
