The relationship between housing created through Permitted Development Rights and health: a systematic review

Abstract

Permitted Development Rights are a regulatory mechanism in the English planning system where the use of a building can be changed bypassing the standard planning process. Other countries have similar arrangements. In England, no assessment of the health impacts has been completed. This systematic review provides the first overview of the health and wellbeing impacts of housing created through Permitted Development Rights. 1,999 literature items were identified from a structured search of 14 databases and manual searching for grey literature. Literature published between January 2013 and July 2020, in England, were eligible. Eight academic and 13 grey literature items were included. The review identifies both a greater number of literature and greater number of ways permitted development conversions have negative compared to positive health impacts, and may contribute towards widening health inequalities. There is a lack of research directly with the occupants of housing created through Permitted Development Rights. These findings provide an indication of the impacts of deregulating a planning system without explicitly considering health and wellbeing. They warrant further assessment of how to enable the change of a buildings use to take place whilst also ensuring the homes created are supportive of good health.

Converting commercial and industrial property into rented residential accommodation: development of a decision support tool

“…This legislative instrument essentially allows a host of permitted construction works to be undertaken while circumventing the need for planning permission (House of Commons, 2019). However, the foremost benefit of PD rights (Marsh et al , 2020) is the ability to facilitate the conversion of commercial and industrial properties into residential properties whilst bypassing the conventional planning permission process. The implementation of PD rights saw a vast increase in net housing production which was derived directly from the preceding conversion works (MHCLG, 2018).…”

Enforcing the Nationally Described Space Standard: the regulation of “Sub-standard” English housing

“…As pressures on land in increase, and developers attempt to cram more homes on available sites than ever before, it is possible there will be demands to revise the NDSS downwards to normalise smaller housing, both from housebuilders but also planning authorities keen to deliver on housing targets (Wiles, 2020). But against this, mounting evidence of the negative health and well-being impacts of reduced space (Marsh et al, 2020;Preece et al, 2023;Kearns, 2022) presents a case for rigid enforcement of higher standards. The future inclusion of the NDSS in National Development Management Policies may well ensure more consistency in the "Substandard" English housing application of space standards across different local authorities, but this paper suggests there remains a need to better document the vagaries of Appeal processes so that both planners and housebuilders are more aware of the forms of discretion being exercised in judgements of housing adequacy.…”

Planning deregulation as solution to the housing crisis: The affordability, amenity and adequacy of Permitted Development in London

“…The location of several notable conversions alongside major highways has raised particular anxieties about air pollution (Marsh et al, 2022). London regularly experiences levels of NO 2 exceeding EU-recommended limits, with pronounced inequalities present: Fecht et al (2016) found NO 2 concentrations 7.8 μg/m 3 higher in the most deprived neighbourhoods compared with the least deprived.…”