The transitional arrangements have now expired, and we now refer to the rules under The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development etc.) (England) (Amendment) Order 2024.

This has removed the “larger” and “smaller” dwellinghouse thresholds (over or under 100sqm) and every dwelling now has a cap of 150sqm in size. Also now any building must have a suitable existing access to a public highway.

Although the above can be seen as negatives, the refreshed rules have many benefits:

• It now relates to “buildings on agricultural units and former agricultural buildings to dwelling houses” therefore the agricultural use for buildings on established agricultural units has been removed but where the site is no longer part of an established agricultural unit the building cannot be used for any non-agricultural purpose. The new relevant date is the 24 July 2023.

• The number of houses has been extended to a maximum of 10.

• The cumulative floor space of all the proposed houses has been extended to 1,000 m².

• An allowance of protrusions up to 0.2 m to accommodate building operations has now been allowed.

• Single storey extensions of up to 4 metres at the rear of the existing building is now allowed provided it is on an existing hard surface.

If you’d like to discuss a possible Class Q opportunity, please do not hesitate to contact Nicola Quick.