PLANNING DECISIONS
found to have a total retail stock of 55 million ft2
to 145 million ft2 200 million ft2
, and office space equating . This equates to almost of retail and office space,
across these 30 town centres, that has the potential to transfer to other uses contained within Class E.
Prior to the pandemic, the potential for a GP surgery to relocate to a former retail or commercial unit was not only complicated by planning issues, but was unlikely to be financially viable. However, with a significant number of shops now redundant, landlords have taken a more flexible approach to accommodating those tenants, that are unlikely to be impacted by future recessions or lockdowns. In fact, that is exactly what is happening. Exacerbated by the pandemic, entire rows of shops are now closed, and large department stores which once provided the ‘anchor’ to major shopping centres, along with convenience, footfall, and employment, are closing at an alarming rate. In many instances it is healthcare occupants which are taking up these properties.
It was reported recently by Planning magazine that amid the coronavirus- instigated economic crisis currently battering most high streets, few landlords, occupiers, or developers, have so far made use of the new freedoms brought about by the use class relaxation; our experience in healthcare is, however, quite the opposite.
Case study:
Relocation of medical R&D facilities in retail locations
Carter Jonas received enquiries in respect of the potential for the re-development of Oxford’s large four-storey Debenhams department store, which had served the city since the 1800s as a retail premises, but closed in 2020. The building will not stand empty for long. Once it was known to be vacant, Carter Jonas was contacted by various life sciences operators enquiring after its potential suitability for their use. Increasingly, these types of businesses are looking for lab space in cities where they can work closely alongside universities and attract young professionals. That such central and iconic buildings might be occupied by a life sciences company represents a significant step forward for the industry, which, traditionally, tends to locate in out-of- town science parks.
A move to mixed use
A change of similar proportions is being seen at the Clarendon Centre. This 1980s covered shopping centre in central Oxford is currently allocated purely for retail use, but a planning application that Carter Jonas has recently submitted reduces the predominant retail component of the scheme, which is now set to include life
30 Health Estate Journal September 2021
sciences, and research and development facilities, along with other mixed uses, including student accommodation. The future Clarendon Centre will no longer be primarily a shopping centre, but a mixed- use building with healthcare at its heart. This, again, will benefit local healthcare and medical research organisations, as well as bringing about viability and vitality. On a national scale, the NHS’s estate rationalisation programme aims to release surplus land for much-needed housing, nurses’ homes, and a host of other facilities to recycle capital into the health service. It now has much greater freedom with which to do so. As we look forward to the Government fulfilling its election promise of creating 40 new hospitals, the potential for diversification, new locations, and integration with other facilities – including transport networks – is much improved.
Retirement schemes – the sector that planning reform forgot? COVID-19 isn’t the only societal change that effects healthcare real estate. Our ageing population is both impacted by, and is impacting on, the built environment. When several planning Use Classes were absorbed into the all-encompassing Class E in September, the Use Classes which cover retirement schemes remained unchanged (Fig 1).
Tightly controlled
Consequently, planning for retirement homes is very tightly controlled compared with the more fluid system which operates for a wide range of other uses, as described earlier. In a recent case, a planning application for retirement homes was
refused by a local authority in part because the local authority claimed that elderly people ‘don’t bring vitality and viability’ to town centres. This seems both inaccurate and inconsistent (and indeed this decision was overturned and labelled ‘absurd’ by an inspector). Retirement living does not mean homes for decrepit people who have given up on life. The purpose of a retirement living scheme is to create an environment that allows older people to maintain their independence, and to continue co-habitation with a partner or spouse, for as long as possible, and, in doing so, provides a ‘safety net’ for such people. Such schemes enable older people to continue to contribute to the vitality and viability of settlements and town centres. The fact that the entry age level is often set as low as 55 also ensures that the community has residents with a range of abilities. Further, many retirement villages include facilities that are open to the wider community in order to encourage integration, with the mixing of the generations being encouraged through the provision of communal facilities targeted at health and wellbeing and the ability to socialise. Care homes also generate significant employment, and those working in such facilities (as well as visitors) will almost certainly spend money locally.
Calls for a different classification So does the C2/C3 planning classification adequately address the undersupply of retirement living units in the UK? There have recently been calls for a different classification, which would seem logical, particularly given the impact of Class E on other sectors. The C2 use class is
Figure 1: Use classes relevant to retirement schemes and care homes.
Definitions from the Planning Portal website. C2 Residential institutions
Residential care homes, hospitals, nursing homes, boarding schools, residential colleges, and training centres.
C3 Dwelling houses This class is formed of three parts:
•C3(a) covers use by a single person or a family (a couple whether married or not, a person related to one another with members of the family of one of the couple to be treated as members of the family of the other), an employer and certain domestic employees (such as an au pair, nanny, nurse, governess, servant, chauffeur, gardener, secretary and personal assistant), a carer and the person receiving the care and a foster parent and foster child.
•C3(b) covers up to six people living together as a single household and receiving care, e.g. supported housing schemes such as those for people with learning disabilities or mental health problems.
•C3(c) allows for groups of people (up to six) living together as a single household. This allows for those groupings that do not fall within the C4 HMO definition, but which fell within the previous C3 use class, to be provided for i.e. a small religious community may fall into this section as could a homeowner who is living with a lodge.
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