The government has said it intends to introduce "further" permitted development (PD) rights for building upwards without the need for planning permission, including allowing homeowners to extend their properties by adding new storeys.
Last Thursday, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) published regulations introducing a new PD right to allow blocks of flats to be extended upwards by two storeys to create new homes. It said the new right would come into force on 1 August.
An explanatory memorandum published alongside the new regulations states that the government "also intends to introduce further permitted development rights for building upwards, including for new and bigger homes".
It said this reiterated the intent set out in the Planning for the Future policy paper, published alongside the March budget, which said the government would change PD rules by summer 2020 to "deliver new and bigger homes" as well as to "extend residential blocks by up to two storeys".
At the Conservative Party conference last October, Jenrick told a fringe event that the government wanted to introduce the "freedom for anyone to build upwards, to add up to two storeys to your property, where me as secretary of state grants that rather than you having to ask permission to do so, so your home can grow as your family does too".
Reports in national newspapers at the time said the right would be introduced firstly to purpose-built blocks of flats, but "will eventually be rolled out to all detached properties". Homeowners would "still need to comply with building regulations, but neighbours will not have a formal route to object".
Comments