Gove to announce plans to make home extensions and loft conversions easier

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. New flexibilities will be introduced to allow shops, takeaways and betting shops to be turned into living spaces, with Mr Gove arguing that Britain must “make better use of the buildings we already have”. Empty shops or offices cannot be gathering dust while we have an urgent need for more homes Housing Secretary Michael Gove The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said the proposals to relax rules around the use of retail space is designed to help rejuvenate high streets and provide greater density of housing in inner cities, rather than encouraging urban sprawl. “That is why we are reviewing the rules around permitted development rights to make sure we can regenerate, build and grow.” In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Gove said his proposals would also include creating development corporations to unleash a wave of new homes in cities such as Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool. Responding to Mr Gove’s announcement, Ms Nandy said: “Britain desperately needs more homes, but another review is a drop in the ocean compared to what is needed to fix the housing crisis.