Council in Surrey issues Art 4 direction over permitted development reforms

A borough council in Surrey has become the latest local authority to make an Article 4 direction disapplying recent Government changes to permitted development rights.

Epsom & Ewell Borough Council said it wanted to remove the rights to change from B1 (office space) to C3 (residential use) for certain office sites in East Street, Epsom seen as a key employment area.

Cllr Michael Arthur, chairman of Epsom & Ewell’s Planning Policy Committee, said: “This proposal is designed to give the council control through the planning process to help protect certain existing offices that, although currently empty, are of specific importance to the borough’s economy moving forward. The fear is that if we lose these buildings to residential use now, then the attraction of Epsom as a location for business in the future is substantially diminished.

“We are between a rock and a hard place; the borough needs more affordable housing however there is no guarantee that the conversions would be for affordable housing. We also need to maintain the economic vitality and viability of Epsom town centre as an employment destination”.

In July Islington Council became the first authority in the country to issue an Article 4 direction in relation to the permitted development rights reforms.

It is also seeking a judicial review of the ‘office to residential’ rule brought in under the reforms and the way in which the Government decided on exemptions.

Lambeth Council – which wanted exemptions to be given for Brixton town centre, Streatham town centre and the borough’s key industrial business areas – also threatened legal action last month over the changes.