CrowdProperty’s Chartered Town Planner Victoria Lane Mrtpi discusses the latest updates announced by the Government regarding its planning policies.
Early in July, Robert Jenrick (Housing Secretary) announced a new higher threshold for the use of Article 4 directions in order to drive through the Government’s controversial new commercial to residential permitted development rights. The new class MA commercial to residential PD right allows all uses in the Class E town centre uses (including offices, shops and gyms) to convert to housing without the requirement of a full planning application which is due to come into force in September 2021.
Jenrick confirmed in his recent written ministerial statement that “this will breathe new life into commercial areas and high streets by bringing vacant buildings back into use as new high street homes – all the more important as a result of the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic”. Previously described by Jenrick as “an engine of growth… the backbone and the beating heart of our economy”, the construction industry is widely recognised as a key sector for economic recovery - Andrew Hall, Property Director at CrowdProperty, notes: “It is clear consolidation in the high street is required. Many tertiary areas started life as residential and were converted later on, so would easily convert back. The retail industry is going through massive change and needs to be reset: bringing residential units back into the neighbourhood would allow the consolidated high street a shot in the arm as local passing trade would improve.”
However, the Royal Town Planning Institute alongside architects, surveyors and chartered builders have warned the Government that these planning reforms pose a significant risk to the nation’s town centres and small businesses. The risk is that our high street will no longer be a high street, with the loss of independent shops, high street brands and commercial uses by the automatic grant of permission for conversion to residential.
Despite this, the Government is pushing ahead. Jenrick confirms that the “policy on Article 4 directions is used in a highly targeted way to protect the thriving core of historic high street areas, but does not unnecessarily restrict the ability to deliver much needed housing through national permitted development rights. Our new policy will apply to all Article 4 directions.”
“Article 4 directions should be carefully targeted, applying only to those locations where they are necessary to avoid wholly unacceptable adverse impacts…In respect of historic high streets and town centres, this is likely to be the irreducible core of a primary shopping area. It is very unlikely to be applicable to a broad area, and is not expected to be an entire local authority area. Local authorities will need robust justification to justify the Article 4 direction and the area it covers.”
The TCPA has raised concerns stating that they are disappointed that the Government has confirmed that they will go ahead with the tightening of the use of Article 4 directions. As well as having too many poor-quality homes, permitted development rights means a loss of control for local authorities in trying to shape their local area through implementing local plan policies. The amended wording for Article 4 directions further strips away the limited powers that local government had at their disposal because the new policy seems to set the bar so high for applications.
CrowdProperty’s Victoria Lane MRTPI, a Chartered Town Planner, shares some scepticism in this approach. She fully understands and backs the need for the UK to provide for more housing - in particular affordable housing - however, should this be at the cost of our high street? “There will be one town in the very near future, which will no longer have a high street. Many local high streets now have empty shops and vacant buildings making the visual aesthetics of the high street unpleasant. Whilst converting these redundant buildings to new residential accommodation will assist in meeting the overwhelming need for new housing across the UK, I am sceptical that the high street is the best place for this measure, removing mixed use commercial centres with wholly residential propositions.”
Victoria backs up the sentiments of the RTPI and TCPA that whilst the changes to the PD rights are welcomed, the Government needs to be careful over the tightening of Article 4 directions to prevent the change of use. “There needs to be a very careful balance between maintaining the essence of the high street and providing high quality new homes for the UK.”
As featured in...
