Contents:
- Article 4 directions
- HMO conversions
- Commercial and business (class E) uses
- Mark Hall North
- Morley Grove
- Old Harlow
Commercial and business (class E) uses
There are five Article 4 directions affecting premises used for commercial and business (class E) use:
- Cambridge House and Superior House, Cambridge Road Article 4 direction (pdf)
- Field House and Goodman House, Station Approach Article 4 direction (pdf)
- Pinnacles Employment Area Article 4 direction (pdf)
- Templefields Employment Area Article 4 direction (pdf)
- Town centre (specific locations) Article 4 direction (pdf)
These directions remove the automatic right for landowners in the affected areas to convert commercial, business and service premises - class E - into residential accommodation - class C3.
The directions have been in place since 18 October 2022.
You can find maps and more details about the locations within the directions.
Why we created the directions
Permitted development rights allow commercial, business and service premises to be converted into residential accommodation without the need for planning permission.
We are using the Article 4 directions to give the council more control over these changes of use in this key area. The directions mean that rather than being able to change the use of premises automatically, without permission, the owners of these premises will instead need to make a planning application to the council in order to make the change. This allows us more control over development and means we can manage the needs of both commercial and residential accommodation in the town.
Just because we have the directions in place does not necessarily mean we will refuse planning applications for this change of use – we will consider applications against our planning policies, as we do with all planning applications, before deciding whether to grant permission.
We had directions which had a similar affect to these in place before, but they expired on 31 July 2022 after changes to the Use Classes Order. We updated the directions in October 2021 and after changes from the government to reduce the area covered by the directions, and they came into force in October 2022.