TECHNICAL BULLETIN
ISSUE 39
DECEMBER 2021
OFFICE TO RESIDENTIAL CONVERSIONS THE PERMITTED DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS AND THE CHALLENGES FOR VALUERS LIAM SHUTT ASSOCRICS, INTERIM HEAD OF NEW BUILD, E.SURV CHARTERED SURVEYORS
In this article, we look at the recent changes to Permitted Development Rights and discuss the implications for residential valuers. History and Overview
•• World Heritage Sites •• The Norfolk or Suffolk Broads
Permitted Development Rights (PDR) are the rights to undertake certain types of building or conversion work without the need to first apply for planning permission.
Since 2013, the right to convert office space to residential homes has come under Permitted Development Rights.
In effect, PDRs are a general form of planning consent granted by central government rather than by the relevant local planning authority. For example, subject to certain conditions, you would not usually need to obtain planning consent if you wanted to build a conservatory, though it is worth remembering that PDRs for many common projects for houses do not automatically also apply to flats or maisonettes and that commercial properties have different PDRs to dwellings.
In October 2018, the government launched a consultation proposing to amend PDRs to explore permitting the demolition of commercial buildings to provide new housing, allowing certain types of buildings to be extended upwards and extending PDR to include retail to residential conversions. In January 2019, the then Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government defended the use of PDRs saying they were good for regeneration – something Labour does not agree with having previously pledged to scrap office to residential conversions.
PDRs do not apply automatically for every property. In some locations, known generally as ‘designated areas’, permitted development rights are restricted. For example, properties in:
In February 2019, the think tank ‘Centre for Cities’ was also critical of some of the effects of office to residential conversions, arguing that this permitted development right
•• Conservation Areas •• National Parks •• Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty
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