London Mayor Boris Johnson has vowed to fight proposals to extend the scheme which makes it easier for commercial landlords to convert office space to residential accommodation.
The planning reform was introduced last year to tackle the housing crisis, but critics have always maintained that it would result in a damaging loss of commercial space as owners capitalise on higher residential rents.
Earlier this month local authorities voiced their fears that government plans to extend the scheme, and make opt outs more difficult, will take millions of square feet out of the London office market.
Other proposals currently in the consultation stage include making the reform permanent following its initial three year implementation and extending its reach.
Now the Mayor, who was recently selected to contest the Uxbridge and South Ruislip parliamentary seat in next year’s general election, has told the London Assembly that he will be “making a vigorous case for the retention of business space.”
“I support a number of changes the government is making to the wider planning system but I’m likely to object to this proposal,” he continued. “We need to protect London’s industrial space.”
While Labour assembly member Nicky Gavron may be wildly overstating the case with the claim that “what is at stake is every single office space and warehouse,” the figures are worrying nevertheless.
One London borough, for example, has reportedly lost 20 per cent of its office space since the planning reform was introduced and the pressure to change use can be overwhelming as residential prices continue to rise.
Housing minister Brandon Lewis insists that the change is providing badly needed homes, but opponents of the scheme remain unconvinced of its merits.
“The government was seeking a quick fix to the housing crisis but didn’t think through the huge unintended consequences,” Conservative assembly member Tony Arbour told the Evening Standard.
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