It’s the first I’ve seen of a council looking to take up this option “to protect the high street”.
Are #placemaking and #property colleagues seeing similar in other parts of the country…?
This from the BBC explains the story:
“A Surrey council is proposing to stop allowing developers to turn retail properties into housing without full planning permission in a bid to protect the high street.
Reigate & Banstead Borough Council said it planned to remove permitted development rights to convert ground floor commercial units into residential properties.
The implementation of an Article 4 direction would mean developers have to apply for full planning permission in order to convert properties.”
The legislation when introduced always had this option, but I’d not heard of a local authority considering deploying it until now.
I feel very much the same about use class guidance for the #highstreet which I’d argue has thrown up unintended consequences and so is overdue for review with consideration of an option to give local councils some flexibility for the benefit of our town and city centres.
Both adjustments featured – along with a review of all the clauses in business rates reliefs regs which you could argue are preventing or at least slowing empty units being brought back into play – in our ‘manifesto’, which sets out policy and regulation changes we figured would help places trying to tackle vacancy and improve the mix of uses.
I’d be keen to hear what those of you working on this challenge are thinking…
