Hastings commercial buildings can be converted into homes after appeal

In a decision published earlier this month, a planning inspector has granted planning permission to convert a pair of commercial buildings in York Road, creating seven new residential properties. 

The application had been refused by council planners in 2020 primarily on the grounds it would lead to the loss of an active employment space from the town.

The applicant disputed this, arguing the site (which is surrounded by residential properties) would not be suitable for most employment uses and therefore could be converted without significant harm to the town. 

As part of this argument, the applicant drew attention to the town’s lack of a five-year supply of housing land and the fact this made the council’s policy about employment space out of date.

This view was shared by the planning inspector, who concluded the loss of the employment space would not outweigh the benefits of the scheme.

The inspector said: “The existing employment land is a constrained site unsuitable for large vehicles, in a location where there would be potential for conflict between any commercial use and the living conditions of surrounding residents.

“The quality of the existing premises could be improved to an extent but would be limited by the age and size of the existing buildings and their siting amongst residential properties. 

“These factors reduce the weight that I would assign to the economic harm which would result from the unacceptable loss of employment land proposed and the subsequent conflict with the development plan.”

They added: “Taking all of the above into account, the adverse impacts of the proposal would not significantly and demonstrably outweigh its benefits, when assessed against the policies in the [National Planning Policy] Framework taken as a whole.”

While a primarily residential site, four of the new properties would be ‘live/work units’, in other words homes combined with employment space. The remaining properties would be a terrace of three houses. 

For further information on the proposals see application reference HS/FA/20/00130 on the Hastings Borough Council website.

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