Since the government announced that permitted development (PD) rights were going to be made permanent, the development finance industry has struggled to contain its excitement.

But not everyone is happy. Local councils fought hard against them, and in many cases applied for Article 4 Directions which counteract PD Rights.

The London Borough of Richmond, in particular, moved swiftly to nullify PD rights – it has already secured 10 Article 4s, and currently has another 16 pending.

Lord True, Leader of Richmond Council, also published a damning statement on the council’s website.

He said: "Yet again, Whitehall dogmatists have failed to listen to local people and their elected representatives. It's the same, scratched, old vinyl disc.

“The government office/resident plan - and indeed other plans they now propose - disastrously absolves developers from any responsibility to make any contribution to affordable housing or to the infrastructure, health, schools or the other facilities that new developments need if they are not to be the slums of the future.”

These concerns were echoed at a UK property professionals event in London last week.

Nick Taylor, Head of Planning at estate agency Carter Jonas, questioned whether the government had considered quality control.

He said: “Are we going to have any commitments on size and quality? I really do think we need something, certainly on size. And is residentialising (sic) industrial areas really the way forward, in such an unregulated fashion? I’m not convinced.

“I think we have a planning system for a good reason, and I do believe that, whilst in many incidences some local authorities will have unnecessarily held offices and put us all through the mill trying to demonstrate demand for office space, I do think this is a step too far.

“I think the spirit of what they [the government] is trying to do is right, but I think the detail of what they are trying to do is wrong, and I do hope they take advice and guidance from the whole of the market that’s involved in this - the local authorities, the developers, the owners and the investors.”

Laurence Goodman, Group Managing Director at Bridgebank Capital, defended the recent change in PD rights, saying that it is the speed of the development that makes it a valuable tool.

He said: “Following conversion of a property, an immediate improvement to the location where the property is situated is achieved, whilst also adding immediate economic value to the town.

“Yes, the counter argument is that a good location could be redeveloped through demolition and rebuild to create a higher tower with greater density on the site, but, the purpose of PD rights is to avoid this, so that new housing stock is available much quicker, therefore meeting immediate demand.

“PD rights do undoubtedly help meet the immediate and acute demand for housing in the UK.”