Government plans to relax planning restrictions on house extensions could attract more small developers to enter Britain's property market, experts say. However, they will benefit little from the changes which are targeted at appeasing owner-occupiers, they warn.
The government wants to allow homeowners to convert lofts of up to 50 cubic metres and build two-storey extensions 10 feet from the rear of their house without needing planning permission. In conservation areas planning permission is waived only for single-storey extensions.
The changes meant that from next month most homeowners could extend their homes without planning permission, leading to around 80,000, or one quarter, of all planning applications being removed from the system, the government said.
It will also save developers and homeowners GBP50 million (HK$727.9 million) a year in application fees and costs related to application processing and delays.
Commercial property owners' body, the British Property Federation, welcomed the move, because it would make life easier for developers and other property owners, and help the planning system focus on processing larger projects.
Liam Bailey, the head of residential research at property consultancy Knight Frank, said the reforms would attract investors who would look for unmodernised homes to update and extend.
Investors may find the reforms help them less than they had hoped, experts have warned.