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posted by on Wednesday March 29 2017, @01:10AM   Printer-friendly
from the if-it-can-fit-a-bed,-it's-fine dept.

Hundreds of tiny studio flats, many smaller than a budget hotel room, are to be squeezed into an eleven-storey block in north London as its developer takes advantage of the government’s relaxation of planning regulations.

Plans for Barnet House, used by the London borough of Barnet’s housing department, reveal that 96% of the 254 proposed flats will be smaller than the national minimum space standards of 37 sq metres (44 sq yards) for a single person.

The tiniest homes will be 16 sq metres – 40% smaller than the average Travelodge room. [...] In the surrounding area, studio flats of a similar scale to most planned at Barnet House sell for around £180,000 and rent for around £800 per month.

[...] Office buildings in Croydon have also been converted into studios with floor areas of as little as 15 sq metres under the Tory deregulation. Housing experts have attacked the relaxation of planning regulations as a “race to the bottom”, but ministers insist the measure is helping to deliver vital new housing, and point out that more than 10,000 new homes were created from office buildings last year.

Under the “permitted development” system, developers who convert offices into homes do not have to meet minimum floor area standards, considered by researchers to be important for health, educational attainment and family relationships. Neither do they have to include any affordable housing.

Source: The Guardian


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  • (Score: 2) by Dunbal on Wednesday March 29 2017, @10:28AM (2 children)

    by Dunbal (3515) on Wednesday March 29 2017, @10:28AM (#485802)

    There are regulations against robbing liquor stores, and yet people still do it. QED.

    Starting Score:    1  point
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    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 29 2017, @10:48AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 29 2017, @10:48AM (#485808)

    yes, some person, somewhere will break a law, hence we don't need any law

    brought to you by the same logic that says we should all worship the invisible hand, ideally with an invisible brain

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 29 2017, @01:58PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 29 2017, @01:58PM (#485890)

    But that doesn't apply in context when landlords decide to lawlessly maintain their properties despite there being a lack of regulation compelling them to do so.

    Wait, they don't.