Government back-tracking on office to residential conversion: “serious dent to much-needed extra housing”
9 January 2012
Cluttons’ criticism of Government thinking on office-to-residential conversion hit the press again over Christmas. Malcolm Chumbley, Head of UK Development agency AT Cluttons: “Caving-in to councils and their lobbyists will cause a serious dent to much-needed extra housing. Plans to bring redundant buildings back into alternative use will now be thwarted and we hear that the proposed relaxation of regulations will form part of the evolving planning policy framework. Councils can simply turn a blind eye. The government should not back-track. It is simply not good enough. Eric Pickles himself said: ‘...it is in everyone’s interests to make it easier to turn run-down old eyesores into much-needed new homes.’ The Guardian covered the story on Boxing Day. Click here.
