Garden rooms and attics: What are the proposed changes to regulations?

The Government is opening a public consultation on widening planning exemptions to allow people to build garden rooms and extend their homes in a bid to increase the supply of available housing.

Haven’t we heard something about this before?

We have. Minister of State at the Department of Housing John Cummins floated the idea in February.

So is it going ahead now?

Steady on. That’s not quite the pace at which things happen. Proposals have been drawn up and the issue will now go to a public consultation over the summer, with a view to finalising proposals in the autumn.

What exactly is proposed?

The review currently under way is examining easing planning rules to allow for the following to be exempt from requirements to obtain planning permission: attic conversions (including rooflights); subdivision of existing dwellings; conversions and extensions for the purposes of providing housing options for older people; current design limitations of extensions to existing buildings – pitched roofs, etc; detached modular-type buildings which may be used as habitable space within the boundary of a primary dwelling.

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The last one is what caught most attention when the Minister floated the idea a few months ago. The idea of garden sheds being adapted for living spaces, or mass building of garden rooms is one that has aroused strong opinions.

Go on?

Supporters of the proposal, including Cummins, say that the measures could mean thousands and thousands of new homes – including for downsizers, student accommodation and those with a need for smaller homes. Taking extensions and garden rooms out of the planning process would also free up under-pressure planning departments and ease the backlog that has delayed the building of new homes. They point to places such as Vancouver and California where there has been widespread use of such measures to increase housing supply.

But opponents say that the proposals are fraught with dangers and, even if successful, do not have anything like the potential to make significant inroads into the housing shortage. Others warn that they would actually increase the value of homes, pushing up prices for middle-income buyers.

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“If you own a house, that’s great, but it’s not so great for somebody who’s trying to buy a house in the second-hand market,” architect Mel Reynolds said previously, pointing to an Australian study entitled We Zoned for Density and Got Higher House Prices: Supply and Price Effects of Upzoning over 20 Years.

What is the law relating to cabins in the garden at present?

Currently you can build an extension up to 40sq m attached to an existing home without planning permission. If you build a log cabin or garden room in your back garden, you can build up to 25sq m without planning permission. The garden room can be a maximum height of three metres or up to four metres high for a pitched roof – but they can’t be used for sleeping accommodation or to be lived in.

What does the Government say?

“Housing is a key priority for this Government and we are determined to leave no lever unused. The ability to expand and improve existing planning exemptions to allow for the appropriate adaptation of dwellings to changing needs is a key area for consideration. Furthermore, if we can have more exemptions, this would take many applications out of the system that really don’t need to be there – freeing up local authority planners’ time and allowing more resources to be focused on larger projects.”