Plainview Planning are regularly undertaking the Prior Approval process for office owners across England.
Under Class J of the General Permitted Development Order, conversion from office (B1) to residential (C3) is permitted subject to the condition that before beginning the development, the developer shall apply to the local planning authority for a determination as to whether the prior approval of the authority will be required as to:
- Transport and highway impacts of the development;
- Contamination risks on the site;
- Flooding risks on the site.
We are seeing an increasing number of Local Authorities refusing applications due to concerns over the level of information provided, and given the tight time constraints (56 days) it can be difficult to add additional information post-submission. Therefore, we have made the decision to front load our submissions to ensure they go through smoothly and quickly – a strategy that is working very well for our clients.
If you own an office and looking at a possible residential conversion, feel free to contact us directly: ClassJ@plainview.co.uk.