Gove’s law on extensions ‘risks civil war in suburbs’

Housing Secretary’s fight against nimby councils will lead to feuds between neighbours, say critics

MICHAEL GOVE has been accused of pitting neighbour against neighbour after announcing a housing shake-up that will let homeowners build extensions without planning permission.

Surveyors and property lawyers have said rule changes drawn up by the Levelling Up secretary could cause “civil war” in middle-class suburbia and a rise in disputes between neighbours.

A consultation on permitted development rights, published yesterday proposes to let homeowners build wider and taller extensions – including L-shaped wraparounds, loft conversions and kitchen extensions – without planning permission.

It also lays out plans to scrap rules that mean a home and any extension cannot make up more than 50 per cent of the land surrounding it, known as the “curtilage”, as well as allowing homeowners to convert as much loft space as they like without permission too.

They are part of a fight against “nimby” councils blocking housebuilding in a bid to solve the housing crisis. The “major shake-up to planning rules” came alongside the announcement of plans to prioritise brownfield developments for house building and make it easier to convert offices into homes.

Rishi Sunak said the move would help the Government meet its target of delivering one million homes over the course of this Parliament.

However, the plans have led to a fear of a surge in feuds between neighbours quibbling over kitchen extensions encroaching on garden fences and towering loft conversions casting shadows over back gardens. David Toogood, of Harding Chartered Surveyors, said: “If you let neighbours make these changes to their properties without controlling it, you’ll create a civil war.

“It won’t work... Our industry will be rubbing its hands together. There will be masses of work for surveyors and lawyers sorting this mess out. It will cost people thousands to get lawyers and surveyors involved.”

Noble Francis, economics director at the Construction Products Association, said: “Extensions and rebuilding homes can often lead to conflict between neighbours so [an] easing of the planning system could lead to more extensions and therefore more conflict on either side of the fence.”

Gary Rycroft, a senior partner at Joseph A Jones & Co Solicitors, said the proposed rule changes could undermine existing rules to protect homeowners from damage caused to their property by a neighbour.

Since 1996, the latest version of the Party Wall Act has been used to protect homeowners from works in their vicinity which might damage their property.

If a building owner wants to extend their loft, for example, they may need to install scaffolding on their neighbour’s lawn which could turf up terrain and leave gaping holes in the ground.

The act gives neighbours a way to seek recourse if damage is caused during any works. Lawyers said Mr Gove’s new rules could also undermine the common “rights of lights” law, which entitles a property owner to a minimum level of natural light.

Geoffrey Adams, senior director at surveying firm Anstey Horne, said: “A two-storey extension can hugely increase bulk and restrict light into neighbouring properties. That does and will have a legal impact, and most likely a knock-on to people’s health.”

A DLUHC spokesman said: “We are committed to delivering the right homes in the right places, as well as empowering people to extend their homes outwards and upwards.”