UK To Get Smaller Windows & Less Ladder Regulation

Those for the chop include rules on windows that have a ‘dirty window factor’ imposed.

PM's attack on red tape to help house-builders: Coalition to make it easier for homes with smaller windows and rooms to be built

• Red tape to be cut as government seeks to build 100,000 new homes
• Coalition is set to abolish 3,000 separate regulations, with 800 already axed
• Regulations for bigger windows and larger room sizes to be scrapped also

David Cameron will today signal plans to slash building regulations in order to make it easier to build new homes with smaller rooms and windows. The Prime Minister will spell out how the volumes of red tape affecting housebuilders will be cut from 100 to ten as the Government seeks to build 100,000 new homes a year. But that means regulations imposed by some councils insisting on bigger windows and larger minimum room sizes will also be scrapped.

Mr Cameron will use a speech to the Federation of Small Businesses to reveal that the Coalition will be the first government in modern history to leave office with fewer domestic regulations than when it entered – saving businesses more than £850million a year. In total, the coalition is set to abolish 3,000 separate regulations by the time of the election next year, with 800 already axed.

Mr Cameron will say: ‘Supporting business is a crucial part of our long-term economic plan, creating jobs and security for all. 'That is why I have insisted on slashing needless regulation. We will also help house builders by cutting down 100 overlapping and confusing standards applied to new homes to less than ten.’

Minimum standards spelt out in building regulations, which deal with safety, energy efficiency and the minimum legal size of rooms, will remain in force. But the Department for Communities and Local Government is to tear up a long list of unofficial regulations drawn up by individual councils. Some will be standardised and others abolished altogether.

Those for the chop include rules on windows that have a ‘dirty window factor’ imposed – bigger sizes to allow for dirt to accumulate rather than assuming people will have the common sense to clean them to let more light in. It also includes rules requiring rainwater harvesting in places that do not suffer from water shortages, demands for solar and wind energy sources that cannot physically fit on to the roofs of apartment buildings, and stipulations for multiple phone lines in home offices.

But critics of the Government’s attempts to liberalise the planning regime are likely to view the move as another move towards a planning free-for-all. Figures from the Royal Institution Of Chartered Surveyors show the average British home has shrunk by 40 per cent in 80 years.

In his speech, Mr Cameron will also detail how the Government is taking an axe to health and safety rules. He will say: ‘We will scrap overzealous rules which dictate how to use a ladder at work or what no-smoking signs must look like. ‘We’ve changed the law so that businesses are no longer automatically liable for an accident that isn’t their fault.

‘Employees used to be able to sue their employer if they were insulted by a customer. We’ve changed the Equality Act to stop that. Shopkeepers used to need a poison licence to sell oven cleaner – we’re scrapping that. ‘And as of earlier this month we have scrapped the ridiculous rule that childminders who give food to children have to register as a food business as well as a childminder.’

And he will point out that by March 2015 the Department for Environment will have slashed 80,000 pages of environmental guidance, saving businesses around £100million per year.  Mike Cherry, national policy chairman at the Federation of Small Businesses, said: ‘The current situation is too complex for most to understand.’

Prime Minister David Cameron, chats with workers during a visit to a small building site in Buckshaw Village in Chorley, Lancashire. He will promise to scrap “needless” health and safety regulations dictating how to use ladders.

Mr Cameron will tell the Federation of Small Business that his will be the first Government in modern history to leave office with fewer regulations than when it entered, saving firms £850m a year. He will promise to scrap “needless” health and safety regulations dictating how to use ladders and what non-smoking signs should look like. The forthcoming Deregulation Bill will make one million self-employed people exempt from health and safety altogether. the Prime Minister will say. “This will make it easier for you to grow, to create jobs and to help give this country the long-term security we are working towards. More than 1.3m new jobs have been created since I came to office – many of them by small businesses. And I know many of you want to grow further – or may be thinking of employing your first person - but have been put off or held back by red tape.” He will also announce 80,000 pages of so-called “green tape” environmental regulations will be ditched by March 2015, saving firms £100m a year.