Relaxation of planning laws to be introduced to boost the building and DIY markets

Another odd policy from the government,prior to retirement due to ill health I worked for a company supplying safety wear and the like to the building trade all over the Borders of Scotland. My retirement really began as the recession really kicked off and the building trade was very badly hit. But it had absolutely nothing to do with planning regulations, it was about money and the fact that building companies could not get loans to build the houses and buyers could not get loans to buy. I saw many many site which had been bought, planning permission obtained and even foundations put in place only for work to stop due to lack of funds.

So I fail to see how this proposal to relax the planning regulations will make much of a difference. One odd thing I noticed in the latter months before I finished is that big companies were now chasing the small renovations or extensions which previously they would not have bothered with. This of course had a knock on effect as the smaller guys who would have normally have bid for this type of work were being drastically undercut by the incoming big boys.

On almost every episode BBC TV's " Homes Under The Hammer ", the subject of Planning Permission is always a major issue confronting the buyers of the properties...the removal of walls and the replacing of windows also need planning consent...as well as tree removal.

I can foresee many legal issues arising from this 'smart idea'.

There is one point I omitted to mention in my previous post is, The building regulations will have to be adhered to, so there will be limits as how close an extension or building can be to it's neighbours.

HondaMan

It's the 'Planning Permission' that's being relaxed, not building regs - so all work done, be it DIY or a firm, will have to be inspected and 'signed-off' - so there will be no differences with dodgy building.

This will probably cause a glut of front door porches and Conservatories to blossom.