Planning Laws Eased

The new planning regulations will mean that from October the majority of homeowners will no longer need to get planning permission for construction work to extend their existing homes.

The changes announced yesterday by Caroline Flint will allow people to build both up and out for the first time without needing to pay to up to £1,000 to be granted specific planning permission as at present.

As a result, the government estimates that one- quarter of all householder applications, 80,000, will be removed from the planning system each year, potentially saving up to £50m.

Industry bodies have welcomed government moves to cut red tape in the UK planning system that will remove 80,000 household planning applications from the process each year.

A spokesperson for RICS said: “RICS welcomes the government's attempts to cut red tape and free up a heavily congested planning process. However, concerns remain that planning departments across the country are still under-resourced...To reduce the application input into the system by 80,000 will not significantly compensate local authorities for a severe lack of funding.”