Town planners have become the latest group to speak out about the government policy to allow the conversion of offices into homes without seeking planning permission. Planning specialists have warned City Hall of “huge unintended consequences” in terms of job losses and the impact on local communities, the Evening Standard reports.
City Hall
Michael Bach, a former government planning expert, said the move was ‘unnecessary’ and ‘heavy handed’ and described the relaxation of regulations as “the worst designed policy proposal” he had ever seen.
Another expert, Richard Pestell of the Royal Town Planning Institute, said the policy does not take in to account whether communities could support residential growth in areas such as schooling, transport and parking.
“If you have a huge office block at the end of your road there will be no controls over the owner turning it into flats.
“It is a hugely blunt instrument with potential consequences not only for communities but also for the economy of London.
“We could potentially lose a lot of viable employment stock to housing simply because housing is more lucrative,” he warned.
John Lett, the chief planner for the Greater London Authority, estimates the amount of office stock lost in central London could be in the region of 4 million sq m if exemptions are not granted.
As we have previously reported, 29 of the capital’s 32 boroughs have lodged exemption submissions along with the City of London.
The move is also opposed by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) which warns that many SMEs will not survive if rents and business rates are driven upwards by rising values.
“There are better ways of getting new housing supply than at the expense of small businesses and much needed jobs,” a spokesperson said.
The government is now facing a potential backlog of exception submissions which must all be assessed according to specific criteria. If this is the case it could prove embarrassing to Communities Secretary Eric Pickles who was confident of having the legislation in place on schedule.
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