The second type of PDR is aimed at developers and involves changing the use of an existing building, for example from commercial to residential.
All buildings have a designated use class, and planning permission is usually required to change it, such as if you wanted to convert an office building into residential apartments.
However, because applying for planning permission is slow, tortuous, and lacks certainty, the government created PDRs as a streamlined process where this change of use could be automatically approved, subject to a few basic checks.
Called prior approval, a developer can make a PDR application to change the use of a building, and the council has just eight weeks to assess it against a shortlist of basic criteria.
If the council fails to respond in that time, permission for valid applications is automatically granted, which makes things speedier and less risky for the developer.
Why are PDRs so important politically?
According to the countryside charity CPRE, around 1.2mn new homes could be created using the country’s existing stock of unused commercial buildings and previously developed land.
And, if you work in the DLUHC’s housing team, previously developed land is pretty much the holy grail.
Imagine the ability to create four years’ worth of new homes without building new housing estates in the precious green belt or at the bottom of anyone’s back garden – it is a political get-out-of-jail-free card.
Who could object to the government wanting to recycle unused existing buildings and put them to much better use? Plus, it is a positive step, politically, towards tackling the housing crisis.
And so the little black dress is getting another outing this spring, whereby the housing team is proposing further tweaks to the current PDR rules to try to win favour.
You will soon be able to build wider and taller extensions to your home, including wraparounds, loft conversions and kitchen extensions, all without planning permission.
It also plans to scrap a rule that states that your home plus any extension cannot make up more than 50 per cent of the land surrounding it, as well as allowing you to convert as much loft space as you like, again without needing permission.
This might cause the odd kerfuffle between neighbours, but overall it seems sensible.
Until the government scraps stamp duty, moving costs will remain prohibitively expensive for many, and so the proposed rule changes should encourage those needing more space to extend their existing pads instead.
A PDR shake-up
The government has also just announced a PDR shake-up for developers.
Prior to March 2024, many commercial properties needed to be vacant for three months before PDRs could apply, and the government has now scrapped this requirement.
