New rights to convert small INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS to HOUSING

New rights to convert small industrial buildings to housing to come into effect soon:

A new permitted development right will come into effect on 1 October 2017, aimed at further increasing the supply of housing.

The amendment to the General Permitted Development Order will allow the change of use of Class B1(c) light industrial buildings and land within their curtilage to be converted to residential use, providing certain conditions are met. These include:

• An application for prior approval must be made between 1 October 2017 and 30 September 2020;
• The building must have been in lawful light industrial use on 19 March 2014 (or if vacant, have been last used for light industrial purposes);
• The building floor space is 500sqm (5381.9 SQFT) or less; and
• The site cannot contain listed buildings or scheduled monuments and must not form part of an SSSI or certain other sensitive areas.

Local planning authorities can only take into account certain matters including transport, contamination and flooding considerations, when determining the prior approval application. They can also take account of the importance of the local area for providing B1/B2/B8 services, and whether the introduction of a residential use into that area would have an adverse impact on the sustainability of providing those services.

Equus has worked directly with Planning Consultants ensuring your site reaches its maximum potential on all aspects of development; please telephone the head office to speak to one of the Partners about your site if you think it is ripe for Permitted Development under the new rules outlined above.