Plans to relax building rules to boost economy

The government is to start a one month consultation to see if relaxing property and building rules will provide a boost to the economy. By changing the current rules and allowing people to build larger extensions for a three-year period, the government hope more people will spend money on improving their homes and developers will be able to build more flats and houses. Part of the plan is to allow householders to build 6 meter long extensions without planning permission. The current limit is 3 meters. One other large part of the plan is to increase the number of properties being built by removing the requirements for developers to include affordable housing. This is on the condition that the site is commercially viable. The government is also set to provide an extra £280m of funding for the FirstBuy scheme to help more buyers get on the property ladder.  It is estimated that this will help another 16,500 first-time buyers get on the property ladder. There are also plans to provide £40bn in government guarantees to underwrite major infrastructure projects. September 7, 2012