COMMENT: Labour's House Conversion Misery

11.17.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 19th Oct 2007

Family houses under threat from Labour's inaction

Lambeth is currently in the grip of a house flat conversion bonanza which is causing many established residents to complain that their area is suffering from undue overcrowding leading to pressures on local schools, healthcare, parking and local amenities.

Many critics say that the current frenzy of house conversions to flats by greedy property developers is being fuelled by crude Government and London Mayoral housing targets that commit each local authority to meeting unrealistic annual housing stock completions.

No qualitative target is given - this is simply a crude numbers game. Unsurprisingly, flat conversions rank as new homes just as much as a brand new purpose-built house.This policy has led to many typical two storey Victorian terrace houses in Lambeth being turned into three, four or more flats where once two would have been the norm.

Some property developers have even made a speciality of this type of fast track flat conversion and they can gut and convert a property into several flats - even letting them out to tenants - before even submitting a planning application.

Contrary to popular belief it is not actually illegal to commence work on a property before obtaining Planning Permission. Concern has been raised that flat conversions are happening so rapidly in Lambeth that Building Control is unable to verify correct building methods that could ultimately affect and compromise the safety of future occupants or neighbours.

Much use is also made of Government legislation called Permitted Development Rights which allows a householder to extend a property by 10% for the use of their own family. Developers then purchase properties in single family ownership and that PDR transfers with the house. The developer can then extend the house with the later intention of converting the house into flats using the increased space gained.

Liberal Democrats challenge Labour's attempts to spin their way out of the current housing crisis by letting dodgy developers run riot with sub-standard flat conversions which are blighting whole communities, causing social imbalance and giving rise to unnecessary tensions.

People need and deserve decent homes in mixed communities - they do not deserve to be cooped-up like battery hens.

Liberal Democrats are calling for urgent action from the Government. It could be made illegal to build or convert property without planning permission. Permitted Development Rights could be tied to the current occupier rather than the property and only transferred if the property remains in single family use.

And Lambeth along with other Councils should be given much more power, not less, to determine planning applications according to local needs, not Central Government diktat.