Partner Karen Jones, in our Planning & Environmental Law team, summarises Reading Borough Council's move to remove certain permitted development (PD) rights.
We published a blog article earlier this year in respect of Reading Borough Council’s proposed Article 4 Direction to remove various permitted development rights (see here). On 10 November 2021 the Council made that Non-Immediate Article 4 Direction to remove the following permitted development rights:
- Change of use of commercial, business and service use (use class E) to residential (Part 3 of the GPDO, class MA);
- Change of use of hot food takeaway, betting office, payday loan shop or launderette to residential (Part 3, class M);
- Change of use of casino or amusement arcade to residential (Part 3, class N);
- Demolition of single, purpose built, detached block of flats or a single, detached office, light industrial or research and development building and its replacement with a detached block of flats or detached house (Part 20, class ZA);
- Up to two additional residential storeys on a detached commercial or mixed use building (in use for retail, financial and professional, restaurant and café, office, research and development, light industrial, betting shop, payday loan shop, launderette) (Part 20, class AA); and
- Up to two additional residential storeys on a two or more storey terraced commercial or mixed use building (see class AA for uses) or one additional storey on a one storey building (Part 20, class AB).
The Direction is intended to apply to the “town centre”, “district and local centres”, “core employment area”, “other entirely commercial areas” and those “areas of poorest air quality”. A copy of the Direction and Maps relating to the Direction are available on the Council’s website here.
The Council will be consulting on the scope of the Article 4 Direction between 15 November 2021 and 13 December 2021. Following this period the Council will undertake a consideration of the representations received and it is currently the Council’s intention to confirm the Article 4 Direction to come into effect on 15 November 2022.
For further information or legal advice, please contact law@blandy.co.uk or call 0118 951 6800.
This article is intended for the use of clients and other interested parties. The information contained in it is believed to be correct at the date of publication, but it is necessarily of a brief and general nature and should not be relied upon as a substitute for specific professional advice.
