Article 4 Directions
An Article 4 Direction can be made under Article 4 of The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015. An Article 4 Direction is applied to a particular area in order to restrict the work that can be carried out without planning permission. Where an Article 4 Direction is in place, planning permission will be required to carry out the relevant work as specified within the Direction.
Article 4 Directions in force
Use Class E to residential in industrial locations
Planning changes to manage conversion of commercial buildings to residential use
Planning changes to control the change of use of buildings from commercial, business and service to residential within designated industrial locations in Bexley come into force on 8 January 2025. The introduction of the Non-Immediate Article 4 Direction follows a statutory public consultation that ran for a 13-week period between 1 December 2023 and 29 February 2024.
The changes have been introduced in response to growing local concerns about an increasing number of offices and other commercial buildings in industrial sites in the borough being converted to residential dwellings under permitted development rights.
The Article 4 Direction and supporting documents can be found in the links below.
The extent of the Article 4 Direction, as mapped, applies to selected existing buildings within the borough’s designated industrial areas (as indicated on the maps). Planning permission will therefore be required for changes of use from Class E to Class C3 under Schedule 2, Part 3, Class MA of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015.
The effect of the Direction is that permission granted by Part 3 of the Order shall not apply to the development specified above and such development shall not be carried out within the areas to which the Direction applies, unless planning permission is granted by the Council as the local planning authority.
Article 4 class MA with maps (industrial areas) CONFIRMED (PDF)
Decision report to confirm an Article 4 direction (PDF)
Conservation Area Article 4 Directions
HMO Article 4 Direction
In response to growing issues around small Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in the borough, the Council made a borough-wide Article 4 Direction which came into force on 24 September 2017.
The Direction relates to development comprising of a change of use from a use falling within Class C3 (dwellinghouse) to a use falling within Class C4 (house in multiple occupation), and removes Permitted Development rights for this type of development.
Planning permission will therefore be required for change of use from Class C3 to Class C4. The Article 4 Direction applies to the whole of the London Borough of Bexley.
Non-immediate Article 4 Directions made but not yet in force
Proposed planning changes: Consultation on a newly made non-immediate Article 4 Direction
The Council is consulting businesses and landowners in its 13 designated town centres across the borough, residents, and other interested parties, on the introduction of a ‘non-immediate Article 4 Direction.
Use Class E to residential in the borough’s 13 designated town centres
In response to growing concerns about an increasing number of shops, offices and other commercial buildings in the borough’s town centres being converted to residential dwellings under permitted development rights, the Council has taken a decision to introduce a non-immediate Article 4 Direction that will bring this type of development into planning control. This does not mean that this type of development is unacceptable; it simply means that a planning application will be required where the Council will then consider these forms of development against the Development Plan. Where applications are considered as acceptable, planning permission would be granted and appropriate conditions imposed as needed.
Consultation on the Non-Immediate Article 4 Direction is open to the public for comment for three months between 6 November 2024 and 5 February 2025.
You can email your views to SP>eam@bexley.gov.uk with ‘Article 4 Direction’ in the subject line or write to: Strategic Planning, London Borough of Bexley at the address shown below. Any correspondence concerning the Article 4 Direction consultation must be received by 5pm on 5 February 2025.
Notices of the Direction have been put up across the borough’s town centres. The Article 4 Direction, including maps defining the areas covered, is available in an accessible format below. The Direction and all supporting documents are also available as PDFs below. Paper copies of the Direction and supporting documents can be viewed during normal office hours at London Borough of Bexley Civic Offices, 2 Watling Street, Bexleyheath, DA6 7AT and in borough libraries.
The non-immediate Article 4 Direction relates to a change of use from a commercial, business and service use (falling within Class E) to a residential use (falling within Class C3) and removes permitted development rights for this type of development (under Class MA, Part 3 of Schedule 2 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015). The Article 4 Direction is proposed to come into force in November 2025, no sooner than 12 months from the date that notice of making the direction is published, subject to the consideration of consultation comments received, the views of the Secretary of State and subsequent confirmation by the Council.
Article 4 Direction in an accessible format
Article 4 Direction signed and sealed with maps
Public notice of making and Article 4 Direction
Decision report to make a non-immediate Article 4 Direction
Decision report appendix A town centre assessments
Decision report appendix B background evidence
All Article 4 Directions currently in effect within Bexley are listed below.