The Government has announced a package of measures to assist with the revitalisation of England’s high streets and town centres.
This follows amendments to the Use Class Order in England which were brought into effect on 1 September 2020 and resulted in the grouping of buildings usually found on high streets and within town centres into a single new Class E use.
A new ‘permitted development’ will be enacted from the 1st August 2021 which allows commercial floorspace within Use Class E (former A1, A2, A3, B1, D1(a) and (b) and D2(e) uses) to be converted to residential use without the requirement for formal planning permission.
An application for prior approval on certain matters will still be required e.g. transport impact, contamination, flooding, noise, adequate natural light and impact on the loss of ground floor commercial space (in Conservation Areas) and any loss of health centres and day nurseries. The application will be subject to an eight week determination process akin to the established provisions for office to residential conversion.
The changes will be subject to conditions which include the building must have been vacant for a continuous period of at least 3 months before the date of the application, the building has been in use for at least two years for an operation within Class E and the premises does not exceed 1,500 sq. m. The provisions will not apply to Listed Buildings, Scheduled Monuments, World Heritage Sites, the Broads, National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, SSSIs and safety hazard and military explosive storage areas.
The Government will also be automatically extending Article 4 directions that prevent permitted development changes that would cease to have effect from 31st July 2021 until 31st July 2022. This will principally affect existing restrictions on office to residential conversions and will afford local planning authorities time to either prepare new Article 4 directions or transition to the new permitted development right given the emerging National Planning Policy Framework that has recently been subject consultation proposes to limit the use of Article 4s.
Peter Lamb, director for the planning team at Savills Wimborne, said: “The new permitted development right is intended to make it easier to re-purpose vacant commercial floorspace and provide new homes as part of the Government’s initiative to provide more certainty in the planning process and to support the revitalisation of high streets to enable them to adapt to changing consumer demands and behaviours. This could prove to be particularly important for urban areas with high housing targets where suitable greenfield land for housing is in short supply or constrained by other factors.
“If you are currently considering initiatives to re-purpose existing space that includes the provision of residential land uses, the new right may create an opportunity for a streamlined approach to the strategy and ultimately delivery.”
For more information, contact Peter Lamb at Savills Wimborne on 01202 856807.