Council issues Art 4 direction, launches JR over permitted development reforms

Islington Council has become the first authority in the country to issue an Article 4 direction in a bid to overturn some of the permitted development rights recently introduced by the Government.

The local authority will also seek a judicial review of the ‘office to residential’ rule brought in under the reforms and the way in which the Government decided on exemptions.

Islington claimed that the Government’s measures would have a devastating effect on its economy. In particular it highlighted how – under the revised General Permitted Development Order (GPDO) – local residents and councils would be “powerless” to object to, prevent, or impose conditions on certain types of development including:

• The change of existing shops, dentists, pubs and other uses over to a betting shop or pay day loan business; and
• The change of any office building into housing.

“Neither of these types of conversion now need planning permission - meaning that residents' rights to be notified in advance and to raise any objection are swept away,” the authority said.

Islington had made two applications for exemptions from the changes: one for the ‘Central Activities Zone’ covering the south of the borough / the City fringes on the grounds that it was an economic area of national significance; and one for the rest of the borough.

The Department for Communities and Local Government accepted Islington's application for the Central Activities Zone but refused the same exemption for the rest of the borough.

Cllr James Murray, Islington's executive member for housing and development, said: "In Islington we've got firm plans for stopping too many betting shops and payday lenders, for protecting local jobs, and for building affordable housing. But the Government's changes are undermining what we're trying to do by allowing developers to bypass these plans in a reckless free-for-all.

"The Government's changes mean we won't be able to stop our high streets being flooded with payday loan companies – and any office space can be converted into poor quality private homes with no affordable housing at all.”

Cllr Murray added: "There’s a real danger that small offices across the borough will be lost to private housing, and tower blocks will have as many flats as possible crammed into them….

"This is not right for Islington and so we have decided to challenge the Government. We have started the legal process to try and overturn the Government's changes."

The council also warned that office-owners might be tempted to end the leases of existing businesses so the offices could be converted. “This will push up office rents and price out small businesses or charities – and having fewer businesses means fewer jobs.”

The DCLG introduced the changes on 30 May through secondary legislation amending the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development Order) 1995. 

Areas in 17 local authorities in England were given exemptions from the new rights to convert offices into homes – a change of use from offices B1(a) to homes (C3).