After months of waiting the Government has finally laid the new Office-to-Residential Permitted Development Rights regulations before parliament. The key headline points are:

- A new noise test on the impact on nearby commercial premises.
- B1 (c) light industrial floorspace can be converted to residential dwellings without the need for planning permission from the end of 2017 (up to 500 sq m).
- Existing exemption zones remain in place until 2019 when local authorities have to bring in their own Article 4 exemption areas.
- In effect, the permanent right applies from 30 May 2016, but you have three years to implement your approved scheme.
- The proposed permitted development right to allow demolition and rebuild of office buildings has not been included.

There has been a long and concerted campaign to ensure that the noise impact in relation to new office-to-resi schemes should be included. There have been a number of reported cases of new office-to-resi schemes opening without taking account of the noise implications of being located close to a well-established music venue and then complaints for the new residents bring about its closure. The Government appears to have listened to these concerns and extended to the consideration of noise impacts to all commercial properties.

The absence of the proposed right to allow the demolition and rebuilding of existing buildings will raise some eyebrows as this reform was confirmed by Planning Minister Brandon Lewis in October 2015 following consultation on this proposal in 2014. The omission of this proposal may point to the reason for the delay in the publication of these new regulations.

We still await further details from the Government, including expected guidance on how local authorities should seek to introduce their own Article 4 Directions to replace the outgoing exemptions zones from 2019.

Undoubtably we will return to this issue at a later date.