Slashing planning controls has led to the creation homes the size of a large car but without windows, a government ordered report found this week.
The scathing verdict on Tory planning reforms exposes the grim slum-like conditions forced on people in “permitted development” homes.
Tory ministers have been changing planning rules since 2013 to make it easier for developers to convert unwanted offices and storage units and such like, into homes without full planning permission.
Campaigners have warned that this slackening of controls opens the floodgates to the creation of “slums”.
The report by the University of Liverpool was commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and released shortly before MPs begam their summer holidays – a “great day” for slipping out back news that is often missed.
The Uni found only 22 percent of permitted development homes would meet national space standards – compared with 73 percent given planning permission.
The smallest ‘home’ was only 16 square metres (four metres by four), and 10 of them had no windows.
A government spokesman claimed these modern slums make an “important contribution” and are “crucial” to helping recover from coronavirus.
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