News & publications
Amendments to Permitted Development Rights- 30/03/2010
On 6 April 2010 permitted development rights (PDR) will be extended for certain categories of development, following amendments to the General Permitted Development Order 1995 (GPDO). PDR means that no application needs to be made to the local planning authority (LPA) for planning permission for that development.
The amended GPDO extends existing PDR for industrial buildings and warehouses to research and development uses and also permits the erection of new buildings, subject to certain constraints such as gross floor area and height. Office buildings and shops, catering, financial and professional services establishments will benefit from PDR to permit extensions or alterations to existing buildings, subject to limitations such as those relating to gross floor area and height. So far as shops, catering, financial and professional services are concerned, alterations must be at ground floor level only and will exclude mezzanine development.
More radically, PDR will be introduced for schools, colleges, universities and hospitals by allowing the erection of new buildings, as well as extensions and alterations to existing buildings, in certain circumstances.
In addition, the amended GPDO extends PDR to changes of use from buildings used as small scale houses in multiple occupation, shared by three to six people, to use as dwellinghouses.
Article 4 of the GPDO has always allowed LPAs to withdraw specified PDR within a local area, subject to the approval of the Secretary of State. The effect of a LPA making a direction under Article 4 is that the applicant would need to obtain planning permission for the proposed development. The amended GPDO changes the procedure relating to Article 4 directions, so that LPAs no longer need to obtain the Secretary of State's approval, subject to giving notice and taking into account representations. It also enables LPAs to make Article 4 directions with immediate effect where the LPA considers that development would be prejudicial to the proper planning of their area or would constitute a threat to the amenities of their area.