Government red tape over planning permission cut

The changes apply to people planning to extend for the first time and could mean up to 80,000 householders will be spared paying the £1,000 fee for specific planning permission, as well as freeing up an overcrowded system.

Caroline Flint, Housing Minister, says:  "Today I am scrapping the red tape so it is much easier to convert the loft into that extra bedroom and build on an extension.

"Often people grow out the family home, but now those who don't really want to move will find it easier to improve instead."

Commenting on the changes, Andrew Warner, spokesperson at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, says:  "An Englishman's home remains very much his castle.

"Household applications are notoriously contentious and there will always be concerns regarding privacy, overlooking and a loss of amenity.  It is often not the size of an extension but the ability to overlook which causes contention."

Full details of the new changes can be found by clicking on the link below.