What is the consultation?
Permitted Development (PD) rights allow certain types of development to occur without the need for formal Planning Permission to be applied for and granted. The development sometimes comes with a certain set of conditions or limitations, set out in legislation.
The Scottish Government is consulting on the potential introduction of a new set of PD rights, or amending existing rights, to address the housing emergency in Scotland, and allow the delivery of housing without planning permission in certain circumstances. The consultation also seeks views on new rights related to heat networks and domestic Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs).
What is being proposed for new housing?
The consultation is split into considerations for rural housing (which already benefit from some PD rights relating to converting agricultural or forestry buildings), and town centre housing.
For rural housing, the consultation acknowledges limited use of the existing rights by stakeholders, and considers whether some of the existing conditions and limitations on these could be amended or removed. For example, removing the current limit on converting any agricultural or forestry unit to create more than 5 units, or the removal of floorspace restrictions.
The consultation also considers the introduction of PD rights for new build homes in rural areas. These would be for situations such as the replacement of existing buildings, or where new homes could be proposed on land around where a building already exists (i.e. to round off an existing building group). The consultation paper notes the Government is currently of the view that this would not be appropriate due to the potential to create housing in unsustainable locations, and the broad potential definition of “rural” for these purposes.
For town centre living, the Government is looking at introducing PD rights to promote local living and the creation of 20-minute neighbourhoods. Planning Policy is already generally supportive of such proposals. The Government are considering introducing PD rights for Changes of Use from some Use Classes, or parts of these buildings, to residential. This would be done instead of applying PD rights to city and town centres generally. In particular, the consultation paper considers that this could apply to upper floors of buildings with a Class 1a use on the ground floor. However, these would likely come with some form of restriction to address potential negative outcomes, such as noise conflicts or privacy concerns, and minimum size restrictions to ensure the creation of suitable residential properties.
In these cases, the consultation suggests that Prior Approval would form part of the proposal to ensure the Council retains control over some of the above issues.
What else is being consulted on?
The consultation paper is also considering views on the installation of Air Source Heat Pumps, particularly to increase the number of these per building that are permitted under existing PD rights, though this requires to be balanced against cumulative noise impact concerns.
The Government is considering removing the need for Planning Permission for forming a new connection to district heat networks, including maintenance of existing connections. This would include the underground pipework and any associated apparatus required for this. This would likely require a condition that the ground surface be restored to its original condition and appearance, and therefore could be compatible in Conservation Areas.
A series of other potential PD right amendments for householder development in order to allow homeowners to expand and extend their existing properties without the need to move. This could include increasing the floor area that can be created by extensions, allowing greater use of converted loft space, or amending the dimension restrictions for new extensions.
Why is the Government doing this?
The Scottish Government is seeking to streamline the planning system and reduce the number of applications within it. By expanding the range of PD rights, particularly those for householder development, the Government hopes to avoid the need for some planning applications to be submitted, freeing up Planning Authorities’ time and resources to focus on other larger or more complex development proposals.
The removal of the need for Planning Permission may also encourage some residential schemes that might have previously been put off by the time, complexity, or cost of the Planning application process to come forward, increasing the available supply of housing as a result.
What should I do?
If you have a view on the proposed changes and would like to make the Government aware of this, the consultation is open until the 27th October 2025.
If you’d like to discuss the content of the consultation and consider making a representation, you can contact a member of our Planning & Development team at planning@g-s.co.uk.
