Department for Communities and Local Development has set out a consultation paper recommending the conversion of empty high street shops into homes and flats for tenants to rent.

Each day there appears in newspapers headlines about the lack of housing and the consultation paper recommends this initiative  to be taken on board by local councils to help solve the problem. Developers would apply to councils for development rights to convert the empty shops/retail units into houses and flats.

The consultation finished on Tuesday 15th Oct with its sole intent to help solve the housing shortage and for empty high streets to build local communities rather than 'driftwood' areas.

There will be a limit imposed on the size of the buildings to be no more than 150 sq m and it is hoping that the initiative will start from April next year. Upon receiving approval from a local council, developers will be able to convert shops into a single house or up to a maximum of four flats.

Planning Minister Nick Boles said: “Thousands of empty and underused buildings, often on the edge of town centres, are going to waste because people do not want the hassle and uncertainty of submitting a planning application. Removing this barrier will bring more people closer to their town centres, providing a much needed boost to local shops and ensuring we make the most of buildings that are already there for new homes.”

Within the consultation paper it has advice for councils that they can reject applications if they have sufficient proof that it could be a ‘loss on the economic health of the town centre, the need to maintain an adequate provision of essential local services such as post offices, and the potential impact of the change of use on the local character of the area’.

The secretary of state will have the power to overturn refusals if councils do not follow the paper’s guidelines and act ‘unreasonably’.

 

Within the consultation paper it has also recommended that barns could be turned into a maximum of three homes to help the rural communities’ needs for housing.