Written question asked by Lord True (Conservative) on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 29 May 2013. It was answered by Baroness Hanham (Conservative) on Tuesday, 4 June 2013.

Planning

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government from which bodies or consultants advice was sought before determining the list of local authorities to be refused exemption from the proposed relaxation of planning rules for change of use from offices to residential; and what fees were paid to any consultants involved in assessing or advising on applications.[HL279]

Answer

The Department for Communities and Local Government received requests for exemption from the permitted development rights for change of use from office to residential uses from 165 local planning authorities. The identity of those local planning authorities which successfully requested an exemption have been published in the Town and County Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995, as amended by the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Amendment) (England) Order 2013. We do not routinely publish lists of local authorities who have made unsuccessful applications to ensure that they are not deterred from participating in similar exercises in the future.

The permitted development rights policy and decisions on which local authorities would be granted an exemption have been agreed across government departments in the usual way.

The department commissioned independent advisers, Arup, to provide specialist and expert assistance on commercial property markets. The total value of the work carried out was £66,790.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: HL279; 745 c178WA
Session: 2013-14
Subjects: Consultants Housing Fees and charges Exemptions Planning permission Offices Change of use
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk

Planning

Secondary information

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