This open letter on permitted development rights was sent to the Secretary of State on 26 August 2025 and published on the 1 September.
Dear Secretary of State,
An open letter on Permitted Development Rights
The Government has a real opportunity to boost the availability of social housing by supporting Baroness Thornhill’s amendment (134) to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which would remove a raft of permitted development rights (PDR) that have seen thousands of affordable homes go undelivered.
Just shy of 28,000 desperately needed affordable homes have not been delivered in the past eleven years due to office-to-residential conversions under PDR - the equivalent of one in every five households currently living in temporary accommodation having a permanent, affordable home. At a time when 131,000 households, including a record 169,000 children, are without a secure place to live, this is indefensible.
Since PDR was introduced in 2013, more than 110,000 homes have been created this way, bypassing the planning process. This prevents councils from securing contributions towards affordable housing, local infrastructure, or ensuring homes are high-quality, climate-resilient and well-located. Communities lose twice: on the quality and suitability of the homes, and on the schools, transport, green spaces and health services that make neighbourhoods thrive.
Councils are at the sharp end of the housing and homelessness crisis, with over 1.3 million households on social housing waiting lists. Last year, councils spent almost £2.3 billion on temporary accommodation, an unsustainable diversion of resources from building the genuinely affordable homes that prevent homelessness. Every affordable home not delivered because of PDR is a missed opportunity to reduce that bill, give families stability, and create stronger, more resilient communities.
The issue is not simply the number of homes not delivered. Studies, including the Government’s own research, have consistently shown that homes created through PDR are more likely to be sub-standard, smaller, darker, poorly ventilated and in unsuitable locations such as industrial estates and business parks. Many would not meet the most basic fire safety and habitability standards had they been subject to the planning process.
PDR undermines strategic planning, hollows out high streets, and strips developments of the Section 106 agreements that support vital infrastructure. The Government’s ambition for high-quality, well-designed and sustainable housing cannot be met while a significant share is delivered outside proper oversight.
Ending unfettered permitted development rights would not halt development. It would restore fairness, local accountability, and public trust in the planning system. It would ensure that the homes built today are not the poor-quality housing problems of tomorrow.
The choice is clear: continue with a system that produces sub-standard homes and strips communities of affordable housing, or act now to deliver safe, sustainable and affordable homes through a fair, democratic process.
We urge the Government to support Baroness Thornhill’s amendment to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, removing a raft of PDR. This would restore local democratic oversight, require developers to contribute fairly to affordable housing and infrastructure, and ensure new homes meet decent quality standards, a decisive step towards tackling the housing crisis, reducing temporary accommodation, and delivering the homes the country urgently needs.
Kind regards,
Cllr Louise Gittins
Chair of the Local Government Association
If your organisation would like to add its signature to the letter please email [email protected].
Annex
Baroness Thornhill’s amendment in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill is Amendment 134 - Removal of Permitted Development Rights for Conversion to Dwellinghouses.
The actual figure of office-to-residential conversions may be higher than our analysis suggests, as the legislation was introduced in May 2013, but data is not publicly available at a national level before 2015.
The analysis assumes the number of conversions for 2013/14 and 2014/15 using an average across all other years from where there is publishable date. For 2013/14, this figure is 50 per cent of the average as this was the year the right was introduced.
The calculation of affordable housing is based on an indicative council affordable housing requirement of 25 per cent on new housing developments.
| 2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | Total | Affordable Housing loss @ 25% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5,331 | 10,663 | 12,824 | 17,751 | 11,559 | 12,075 | 10,598 | 8,116 | 8,381 | 7,960 | 6,700 | 111,958 | 27,989 |