Will High Streets Become Homes?

The government is planning on removing the red tape so that boarded up shops and abandoned offices can be turned into homes without the need for full planning permission, under new laws being introduced today.

It will make it easier for developers to switch shops to homes without needing to submit a planning application.

Builders will also be able to demolish vacant shops and build homes in their place without planning permission under new legislation that the government wants in place by September.

Boris Johnson said: “This government will shortly bring forward the most radical reforms of our planning system since the end of World War II… to scythe through red tape and to get things done.”

The Prime Minister also confirmed a £12billion affordable homes programme aimed to support up to 180,000 new affordable homes for ownership and rent over the next eight years.

Plus, smaller housebuilders will be given an extra £450million in funding for new housing developments.

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