In this month’s article, we look at a recent approval in which we obtained Class MA Prior Approval in the London Borough of Hackney, with an Article 4 Direction due to come in and challenges that we faced that almost prevented a successful outcome, and a few tips for readers as to how you can overcome similar challenges in these situations.
This deeper dive into a recent real case study will reveal potential pitfalls to these applications that required a highly reactive and ‘creative’ response to the challenges that were thrown up.
As more and more Councils look to constrain the ability of developers to exploit these PD rights, either through the strict and rigorous management of such applications or through using Article 4 Directions, it is no longer about ‘ticking a few boxes’, throwing in an application and sitting back, folding your arms and ‘waiting for approval’. Clients and consultants need to be in regular and proactive communication throughout, pushing officers for responses and being ever mindful of the ‘ticking clock’, especially if an Article 4 Direction is expected to be confirmed soon that may withdraw PD rights from the site.
A Priority Office Area
The development site comprised two office suites to the upper floors of an existing office block in the City Fringe of Hackney, close to Angel Underground Station. The area has seen a growing mix of uses and dilution of traditional employment uses. This progressive loss of employment and office floor space has recently prompted the Council to seek to extend its current Article 4 powers, particularly over areas that have already been identified in the Local Plan as ‘Priority Office Areas’. This site is located in such an area (see street view above).
This attempt to align and support a robust Local Plan policy position defending employment sites from conversion with new Article 4 powers is not as widespread as one might think. Hackney’s own Local Plan was adopted in July 2020. However, it was not until February 2022 that the Council drafted and introduced Article 4 Directions to cover this area, leaving a potential window of opportunity to circumvent the Local Plan policy to prevent loss of office floor space to residential apartments.
The City Fringe Article 4 Direction
As noted in an earlier article, it is important when reviewing whether a site is covered by an Article 4 Direction to check the following:
