Ministers urged to put brakes on offices in England being turned into homes

"Dozens of organisations have signed an open letter calling on the government to scrap office-to-residential conversions in England, which analysis has found led to the loss of almost 28,000 affordable homes. Local government campaigners, housing providers and homelessness charities have all joined the call to abolish some permitted development rights (PDR), which grant automatic planning permission to building projects and are often used to convert office blocks into housing."

"New analysis by the Local Government Association (LGA) has found that nearly 28,000 affordable homes have been lost due to office-to-residential conversions under PDR in the past 11 years. An amendment to the planning and infrastructure bill the government's flagship planning changes designed to speed up housebuilding that would remove many PDR allowances is being debated in parliament on Monday."

Dozens of organisations, including local government campaigners, housing providers and homelessness charities, are calling for the removal of certain permitted development rights (PDR) that allow office-to-residential conversions. New analysis by the Local Government Association finds nearly 28,000 affordable homes lost to such conversions over the past 11 years. PDR grants automatic planning permission and exempts developments from affordable housing contributions, reducing councils' ability to secure community benefits and oversight. An amendment to the planning and infrastructure bill that would remove many PDR allowances is being debated in parliament. Signatories warn of poor fire safety, habitability and long-term community harms.

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