Around 28,000 affordable homes were not delivered due to office-to-residential conversions under permitted development rights (PDR), a trade association found.
Research by the Local Government Association (LGA) predicted that more than 110,000 new homes were converted from offices to residential under PDR since 2013, meaning full planning permission was not required.
If full planning permission was required, councils would have been able to mandate affordable housing or infrastructure contributions from developers for these projects or require them to make sure the homes were high-quality, climate-resilient or in a suitable location.
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) suggests that at least 10% of new homes in major developments should be affordable housing, while some local authorities ask for this to be around 20-30%. The LGA’s research was based on 25% of homes being affordable.
| Year | Number of units |
| 2013/14 | 5,331 |
| 2014/15 | 10,663 |
| 2015/16 | 12,824 |
| 2016/17 | 17,751 |
| 2017/18 | 11,559 |
| 2018/19 | 12,075 |
| 2019/20 | 10,598 |
| 2020/21 | 8,116 |
| 2021/22 | 8,381 |
| 2022/23 | 7,960 |
| 2023/24 | 6,700 |
| Total | 111,958 |
| Affordable housing loss at 25% | 27,989 |
An amendment has been made to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill to remove PDR for conversion to dwellinghouses, and a letter in support of this has been signed by 39 organisations, including Shelter, the National Housing Federation, the Town and Country Planning Association, the Royal Town Planning Institute and the G15.
The bill is still making its way through Parliament.
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The LGA has called for PDR to be removed where it allows new homes to be developed without affordable housing or contributions to local infrastructure. It said many studies showed homes developed through PDR were more likely to be substandard and in unsuitable locations.
Cllr Louise Gittins, chair of the LGA, said: “As councils and communities face the stark reality of limited and poor-quality housing supply, this amendment could be a game-changer.
“PDR allows developers to avoid contributing to affordable housing in the local area, which has a real-world impact – a fifth of families in temporary accommodation could be permanently housed.
“We hope that this amendment secures sufficient backing as the Planning and Infrastructure Bill progresses through the house and will help councils to play their key role in delivering the high-quality houses that our country sorely needs.”
Baroness Thornhill, who is a vice president of the LGA and brought the amendment, added: “The impact of certain PDR rules has gone much further than was ever anticipated when they were first bought in; it is time they were scrapped.
“Councils – and communities – are losing out significantly because developers are able to circumvent the democratic planning process.
“Making this change could mean better-quality development, which has the benefit of proper oversight and consideration, and helps bring forward much-needed affordable housing.”
