In
the face of backbench disgruntlement, the Government has promised to modify its
extend-it-if-you-want-to policy on house-building. The key moment comes 1:22.57 into the video below, when Eric
Pickles says that, “I can announce today that in the spirit of consensus, we
will bring forward a revised approach on the contentious question of permitted
development rights for home extensions when the bill returns to the Lords.” We
don't yet know what that “revised approach” will look like, only that it will
be written into the Bill by the time it reaches the Lords next week. MPs will
then have the chance to vote on it when the Bill returns to the Commons on 23rd
April.
In
the end, the Government secured the result it wanted. An amendment for allowing
individual councils to opt out of the planning reforms was rejected by 286
votes to 259, as the House waits to see next week's revisions. That said, 16
Tory MPs – including Zac Goldsmith – did vote against the Government, as did 10
Liberal Democrats. Anyway, here's the video: