1.0 Introduction
There were a number of Permitted Development Rights granted by the UK Government over recent years, and you need to keep up to date with what is still current and what is the latest position regarding legislation for your particular area and planned project. You also need to consult where Loacl Authorities have countered the Government initiatives with Article 4 Directives.
2.0 Technical Guidance For Domestic Premises
There are quite extensive rights granted to extend existing dwelling houses without the need for planning permission per se, but requiring approval of neighbours, so there is a control process. It is quite complex and is simplified in the following technical guide.
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3.0 PD Right Class E to Residential Use
Permitted Development (PD) Right for the new Use Class E (Commercial Business and Service) to residential use, which came into effect on 1 August 2021. The Permitted Development right seeks to increase flexibility for commercial premises within England and forms part of a suite of measures the Government is seeking to bring in to revitalise the high street.
The legislation is available here.
The PD Right is not as open and broad as many expected, following the consultation, with a size limit included so only properties under 1,500 sq m of floor space will benefit.
Additionally, there is a requirement for any property which seeks to benefit from the PD Right to have been in Class E use for a period of 2 years, and to have been vacant for 3 months ahead of the Prior Approval application date. Therefore it will not apply unconditionally to all commercial premises.
A Prior Approval process is required for the Permitted Development Right, with which Local Planning Authorities can (only) give consideration to the following criteria:
- transport
- contamination
- flooding
- the impacts of noise from Permitted Development commercial premises; NB Noise impact reports may be requested by the LA.
- the provision of adequate natural light to all habitable rooms
- the impact of the loss of the ground floor Commercial, Business and Service use on Conservation Areas
- the impact of the Permitted development for future residents from the introduction of residential use in an area considered important for industrial Permitted Development , waste management, storage and distribution uses
- the impact of the loss of health centres and registered nurseries on the provision of such local services.
There are no other location restrictions on the Permitted Development Right, excluding the typical exceptions of National Parks, Areas Of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Listed Buildings or World Heritage Sites.
However the Permitted Development right can apply in Conservation Areas, but the impact of the loss of the ground floor commercial use on the Conservation Area must be assessed through the Prior Approval process as noted above.
Article 4 Directives that may remove the PD Right for the change of use from offices to residential, will continue to apply (where the existing use is an office), until 31 July 2022, and we have seen examples where this has been used to stop redevelopment of an office into residential, because the Local Authority did not want to lose the employment prospects by losing the vacant office block.
It will be interesting to understand how future Article 4s may relate to this following the Government’s consultation of the revised National Planning Policy Framework , which seeks to tighten up the rules for when Article 4 directions are introduced.
The Government are sending a clear message that this PD right should facilitate increased housing delivery through the conversion of existing buildings on ‘brownfield’ sites. This ties in with their recent confirmation of the revised approach to the standard method for assessing the national housing requirement.
This focused on a 35% uplift in requirements within the country’s 20 largest cities and urban areas, and a shift away the large-scale greenfield release or tackling fundamental reforms to the Green Belt, suggested as a consequence, certainly within the South East of England, as indicated on the draft consultation on the standard method last year. This is obviously a much more politically acceptable solution for the Government, and politicians are clear that this is a vote winner or a vote loser depending upon their housing policy and how much it may affect influential NIMBYs.
National Space Standards shall apply to all dwellings created through this new PD Right, but there is no consideration of tenure, mix or amenity space that may be required.
Consequently, it is likely that the nature of conversion proposals will predominantly bring forward one and two-bed flats for the open market, with limited or no communal or private amenity space. This will place additional pressure on meeting the needs for affordable dwellings and three-bed-plus family housing within wider administrative areas beyond town and city centers. Nor will it ensure the delivery of meaningful amenity space, which has been so valued during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a shortcoming of the policy, but at least it may result is some increase in the national housing production output.
There are new planning rules allowing for the extension to public service buildings eg schools, colleges, universities and hospitals, and prison buildings, by allowing them to up to extend up to 25% of the existing footprint of the cumulative buildings on the site, or 250 square metres, whichever is greater, and increasing the height restriction for these extensions from five to six metres.
These changes should be viewed as one of many levers needed to resolve the housing crisis, not anywhere The Government must be aware of the potential consequences that the new PD Rights will inevitably have on our town and city centres and we will continue to monitor the situation with interest Permitted Development.
4.0 Class E To Residential: What Impact Will The New Permitted Development Rights Have On Our Towns And Cities?
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From 1 August 2021, one of the most far–reaching changes to permitted development (PD) rights took effect. But what impact will this change have on the vitality and the viability of our town and city centres? We discuss the benefits and challenges that the new PD right may bring.
Class MA allows commercial, business and service uses under Class E to be converted to residential use (Class C3). This goes beyond prior PD rights, which Permitted Development offices and retail to be changed to residential use, now allowing other uses such as restaurants, gyms, health and nurseries to convert as well to residential use (C3).
The UK needs more homes, having a critical housing shortage for some years, and placing people living in the heart of our centers should help make remaining commercial businesses more viable. So what’s the problem? Well, there are several and PD rights that are only part of the solution. In some centers, using PD rights may not be the answer at all.
After all, it is a sporadic adaption of vacant space or suitable space into residential. it is not even quantifiable exactly how many dwellings may be produced from such conversion.
5.0 The Benefits Of The New Permitted Development Rights
The Government sent a clear message that housing delivery should be achieved primarily through the Permitted Development of ‘brownfield’ land, especially the conversion of what were previously commercial premises. There is a revised approach to the standard method for assessing housing requirements which is focused on a 35% uplift within the country’s 20 largest cities and urban areas. Throughout the country there is political opposition to the Green Belt release at the local level, which places greater pressure on urban areas. A convenient opportunity for town centers then to be utilized to the maximum extent possible.
The concept of urban living has many sustainability benefits and remains an attractive proposition that is growing in popularity even despite the pandemic. New build-to-rent and co-living concepts continue to drive a dramatic urban renaissance, reflecting a clear shift in how society in general and particularly young people want to live. The concept of living and working adjacent is quite attractive to many especially if there are also sports and social amenities nearby as well.
An increase in the number of people living in our towns and cities has helped and will create even more vibrant centres, proving that this can be successful, as can be observed worldwide in vibrant city centres
Certainly the new PD rights have the potential to deliver huge numbers of new homes, and build further upon the 72,687 [1] homes delivered in the five years prior to March 2020 under the previous office to residential PD right (Class O).
Alpus supports flexibility for landowners to rapidly respond to changes in the market and, for some, more urban homes through conversion or upward extension is a possible solution. However, the quality of future conversion type development can be a concern that impacts on the attractiveness of a centre., viz ghettos of flats and little parking provision
6.0 The Challenges Associated With Permitted Development Rights
There are clearly challenges in achieving the right balance of residential alongside commercial, cultural and other uses:
6.1 Conflicts With Local Planning Policy Objectives & Piecemeal Development
The Permitted Development rights for Class E to residential take away much of the control that local authorities would clearly like to have, and risk undermining local planning policy objectives and fragmenting the retail core with piecemeal housing delivery. It is also unlikely to deal with the repurposing of the largest vacant stores which would most benefit from a change of use.
This places the weakest retail centers at the greatest risk. Many local planning policies require radical review, but in other cases, there are well-considered and up-to-date area masterplans that could be severely compromised by the new PD right.
The best opportunity to optimize housing delivery in our centres, as well as ensure the best mix of uses in the right places, is through a holistic plan-led intervention for the whole centre. Such strategies should face into commercial realities whilst being bold advocates of change, specific to the place.
6.2 Retaining amenities that attract people and sustain centres
Although there is a 1,500 sq m floorspace cap applied to the PD right, and restrictions in conservation areas, the regulations do not require any assessment of the loss of that use on the vitality of a centre to justify conversion to residential. The vacancy test is only three months, which could apply to a vast proportion of commercial floorspace in centres. The proof will be in the uptake but an extensive loss of commercial floorspace in some centres risks losing the attraction of moving there in the first place.
6.3 Affordable Housing & Mix And Tenure
The Permitted Development rights do not require the provision of affordable housing, nor do they provide controls on tenure or mix. This will continue to exacerbate under delivery of affordable housing and could lead to issues with social cohesion.
6.4 Public Policy & Amenity
Planning applications for residential Permitted Development within town centres often contribute to public policy through the delivery of on-site landscaping or financial contributions towards public open space.
There is no such requirement to deliver either private or public spaces via PD rights, nor does it require the provision of internal or external amenity areas for residents. The need for these amenities and open spaces has been amplified during the pandemic and will be key to the future success of our centres.
Of course, these new Permitted Development rights will work well in some circumstances. For example, an office-led development with restaurants, bars and other leisure uses, could benefit from additional residential created via the new Permitted Development right. Adding a small number of residential uses to these types of areas could create more balanced communities and broaden their appeal.
The new Permitted Development right may well deliver much-needed new homes in town and city centres, and arguably where the sustainability benefits, and the ability to address climate change, is greatest. There is greater scope for even more homes to be delivered but there remains a real risk that this will be a distraction to the broader issues our town and city centres face. Time will tell but this new Permitted Development right could severely undermine the wider regeneration efforts of some centres.
A further review of holistic interventions is needed to address the unresolved issues that centres and high streets face. Landowners and local authorities must work in partnership to develop strong visions for centres and deliver location-specific repurposing of buildings and spaces with long-term success in mind, rather than short-term gains for housing delivery.
Local authorities will be keen to continue to apply existing Article 4 directions and will almost certainly introduce new ones to take back control totally within the planning system. It will be interesting to see how future Government interventions and Local Authority responses and directions can be applied given the tightening up of rules in the revised NPPF.
7.0 What Alternatives Are There?
The above system is totally incoherent and in need of further reform.
You can discuss your particular commercial property development requirements and objectives with Alpus and we will evaluate how to optimise the value of your property for your company.
Call Alan at Alpus Group on +447539141257 or +443332241257 or schedule a call with Alan at calendly.com/alanje or email alan@alpusgroup.com. We will transform the value of your property, and when you deal with Alpus all transactions are transparent and project focussed. You only deal with one party rather than multiple consultants and contractors.