Agenda item

[Report of the Director of Housing, Regeneration and Planning. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Sustainability]

This report recommends the making of a non-immediate Article 4 Direction for growth areas and town centres in the Borough to remove permitted development rights for Office (B1a) to Residential (C3).

The Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Sustainability introduced this report which recommended the making of a non-immediate Article 4 Direction for growth areas and town centres in the Borough to remove permitted development rights for Office (B1a) to Residential (C3).

The Cabinet Member noted that the report would prevent offices from being converted into residential units. Such residential units were often of poor standard and the Council was acting to prevent such conversions in growth areas and town centres of the Borough. To prevent any future challenges, the making of the Non-Immediate Article 4 Directions were to be carried out gradually across the borough with this report marking the first step.

RESOLVED

1. To note the regulatory requirements for the making of a new Article 4 Direction, as prescribed by The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015;

2. To note the comments and recommendations of Regulatory Committee of 2 March 2020 regarding this proposed Article 4 Direction;

3. To adopt the justification herein provided to support the making of an Article 4 Direction to remove Office (B1a) to Residential (C3) Permitted Development Rights within Growth Areas, and Metropolitan and District Centres;

4. To approve the making of a non-immediate Article 4 Direction removing permitted development rights for Office (B1a) to Residential (C3) changes of use within Growth Areas, and Metropolitan and District Centres as identified on the Haringey adopted Policies Map as set out in Appendices A and B.

5. To authorise the Director for Housing, Regeneration & Planning to carry out the necessary publicity, notification, consultation and subsequent decision on whether to confirm the Direction, as prescribed by The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015.

Reasons for decision

The Council’s employment planning policies are based on robust evidence which establishes a need to protect employment uses to ensure vitality and viability of the borough’s economy. The permitted development rights undermine the operation of these policies and impact negatively on the provision of employment space and jobs.

The making and confirming of a new Article 4 Direction to restrict offices being converted to homes without Planning Permission in key areas of the Borough will result in some significant benefits. This includes the ability to properly assess any proposals against the Council’s Development Plan with regards to employment and town centre priorities, the quantum and demand for Office floorspace, and any impact on key business sectors to ensure any proposal doesn’t harm the local economy. It will also enable the Council to utilise a Plan Led approach underpinned by robust evidence to come to decisions on such proposals.

Alternative Options Considered

The alternative options available to the Council are: to do nothing; to introduce a Borough wide Article 4 Direction; or, to extend the proposed coverage of the Article 4 Direction to designated Employment Land. The Council could also make the Article 4 Direction immediate rather than non-immediate.

The do-nothing approach has been discounted due to the harm the Permitted Development right is having as outlined in this report.

The Council’s evidence indicates that within designated Employment areas, much of the employment floorspace is in other B class uses rather than B1 (a) Offices, including B2 general industry and B8 storage and distribution. To justify an Article 4 Direction the Council needs to adequately demonstrate the need for such a Direction to be issued including evidence of the harm it is causing. If this is not demonstrated, the Secretary of State may intervene and direct the Council to not confirm the Article 4 Direction. In 2013, the Council sought from the Government an exemption from the permitted development rights / prior approval for Office to Residential, and was unsuccessful as the Secretary of State found the justification lacking. Therefore the proposed approach of limiting the Article 4 Direction to Growth Areas and Metropolitan and District Centres where there are still valuable clusters of Office floorspace should negate this risk, and is the most appropriate course of action given the evidence and the limited amount of office floorspace outside of these locations. For the same reason, a Borough wide Article 4 Direction is also discounted.

As set out below, there is the possibility that the Council would be liable for compensation if an immediate Article 4 Direction is pursued, which would be payable to property owners where permitted development rights such as these will have been removed and a subsequent application for permission is refused for that type of development, or conditions applied by the Local Planning Authority over and above those otherwise required. The compensation payable reflects the difference between development value in both scenarios and also additional costs associated with going through the planning process which are unquantifiable but could be many millions of pounds, so this approach has been discounted for this reason.