Out-Law News 2 min. read
18 Apr 2013, 2:33 pm
In a letter (4-page / 86KB PDF) to Communities Secretary Eric Pickles, the Assembly said that the proposals could lead to the loss of up to a quarter of London's existing office space.
The Assembly's planning committee said it had held a meeting with a panel of experts and key stakeholders including planning officers, property consultants and the Royal Town Planning Institute. They had said that the changes could make it "particularly difficult" for start-ups and small and medium sized enterprises to find business space as many such spaces would either have been converted or their rental costs would have been driven up "beyond the reach" of smaller businesses.
The panel had told the committee that the planning system already has the tools to allow change of use from office to housing and noted that those tools had been "highly strengthened" by the National Planning Policy Framework.
"Where there is surplus office and business space, local authorities can and should carry out change of use in a managed and strategic way," the Assembly said in its letter.
The panel had also expressed "serious concerns" about the quality and affordability of the housing that would result from the conversions," the Assembly said. It had also questioned whether the necessary infrastructure to support the additional housing would be put in place.
The panel had said that the proposals go against the principle of a plan-led system. It said that they would remove "significant development" from the control of professional town planners, elected officials and Londoners "who will no longer have the ability to comment or make representations on potentially substantial changes to their communities and their local built environment".
The Royal Town and Planning Institute's representative Richard Pestell had told the committee that the proposed new rights were an "incredibly blunt tool, far too blunt for what is quite a complex issue which is not confined to town planning".
"The problem is far more fine-detailed than the universal approach would suggest. Being blunt also has huge unintended consequences that we cannot yet quantify," he had said.
“We are very concerned that these proposals could jeopardise London’s future economic growth," said planning committee chair Nicky Gavron in a statement. “London may have spare office space, but turning business premises into homes is not the answer."
"The Committee heard worrying evidence about the potential impact on jobs and small businesses and there is a real danger these plans could do more harm than good. This is an unnecessary and ill-thought through idea which will lead to serious unintended consequences," Gavron said.
”The Government needs to reconsider these proposals because it is vital that any decisions made today are in London’s best long-term interests and don’t harm the capital’s potential jobs and growth,” she said.
The Government's plans to introduce the new permitted development rights for a period of three years were announced in January. A number of Councils, including the majority of Boroughs in London, have applied to the Government to be exempt from the rules.
