Article 4 Directions

The Council seeks your views on a set of six Article 4 Directions.

These Directions are legal orders which would remove Permitted Development rights which allow change of use from business, commercial and service use to residential without the need for planning permissions; the Directions relate to locations largely in the centre and north of the borough.

What is Permitted Development?

Permitted Development rights allow certain types of building work or changes of use without the need for planning permission.

In April 2021 the Government amended Permitted Development Rights to add a new category: change of use from Class E “business, commercial and service use” to residential (Class C3).

Class E includes shops, restaurants, estate agents, offices, museums and indoor sports facilities.

Following the amendment, change of use from Class E to residential can be carried out without the need for planning permission (a simpler prior approval process is needed instead).

What action has the Council taken?

To retain the right to require permission in certain areas of the borough, in August 2023 the Council implemented Article 4 Directions (Tranche 1) covering sites in the south of the borough in the Central Activities Zone (CAZ), the CAZ-Fringe, the Vale Royal/Brewery Road Locally Significant Industrial Area and in Camden Passage and Fonthill Road Specialist Shopping Areas.

These Directions are available at our Permitted Development webpage.

What is now proposed?

The Council is now proposing further Article 4 Directions in retail and employment locations largely in the centre and north of the borough not included in the first set of Article 4 Directions.

Under these Directions, landowners seeking change of use from Class E to residential will still need to make an application for full planning permission rather than using the prior approval process.

Any proposals will then need to be considered against relevant planning policies.

The Directions cover sites in six areas:

• North West
• North East
• Central West
• Central East
• Central South West
• Central South East

The Directions and Public Notice can be found in the Relevant Documents with a high-resolution map of each area.

The Directions and Public Notice can also be viewed at Islington Town Hall, Upper Street, N1 2UD, 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.

The council’s delegated decision report is available on our Democracy webpage.

How to comment

Representations can be made:

• by email to planningpolicy@islington.gov.uk
• by post to Freepost RTXU-ETKU-KECB, Planning Policy, Islington Town Hall, Upper Street, N1 2UD
• By completing the survey below

The Council is consulting on these Directions from 5 September 2024 until 18 October 2024 and would like to hear your views.

When deciding whether or not to confirm the six Directions, the Council will take into consideration all representations received during the consultation period.

Subject to confirmation, it is proposed that the Directions will come into force on 1 September 2025.

Public comments and privacy

• Please note that comments will be made publicly available on the Islington website. This page will be updated once the comments are published later this year.
• We will remove names and personal contact information from any responses.
• Responses will be retained on LBI servers for a period of 2 years.
• For more information on the basis on which we process, use and store your information, please refer to our privacy policy.