Article 4 Directions

Last year, the Council sought your views on a set of six Article 4 Directions. Thank you to all who responded to the consultation.

These Directions are legal orders which remove Permitted Development rights allowing a change of use from business, commercial and service use to residential without the need for planning permission; the Directions relate to locations largely in the centre and north of the borough.

What is Permitted Development?

Permitted Development rights allow certain types of building work or changes of use without the need for planning permission.

In April 2021 the Government amended Permitted Development Rights to add a new category: change of use from Class E “business, commercial and service use” to residential (Class C3).

Class E includes shops, restaurants, estate agents, offices, museums and indoor sports facilities.

Following the amendment, change of use from Class E to residential can be carried out without the need for planning permission (a simpler prior approval process is needed instead).

What action has the Council already taken?

To retain the right to require permission in certain areas of the borough, in August 2023 the Council implemented Article 4 Directions (Tranche 1) covering sites in the south of the borough in the Central Activities Zone (CAZ), the CAZ-Fringe, the Vale Royal/Brewery Road Locally Significant Industrial Area and in Camden Passage and Fonthill Road Specialist Shopping Areas.

These Directions are available at our Permitted Development web-page.

What is happening now?

The council consulted from 5 September to 18 October 2024 on six further Article 4 Directions in retail and employment locations largely in the centre and north of the borough which were not included in the first set of Article 4 Directions.

Under these Directions, landowners seeking a change of use from Class E to residential will still need to make an application for full planning permission rather than using the prior approval process.

Any proposals will then need to be considered against relevant planning policies.

The Directions cover sites in six areas:

• North West
• North East
• Central West
• Central East
• Central South West
• Central South East

Representations made during the consultation period were included in a report to and considered by the Council’s Executive Committee which met on 17 July 2025. The Executive decided to confirm the six Directions, which will now come into force on 1 September 2025.

The six Directions and Public Notice can be found in the Relevant Documents section on this page, with a high-resolution map of each area.

The Directions and Public Notice can also be viewed at Islington Town Hall, Upper Street, N1 2UD, 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.

The council’s Executive report is available on our Democracy web-page.

Public comments and privacy

• The consultation responses received are publicly available on the Islington website (Appendix 2: Consultation responses and officer comments).
• We have removed names and personal contact information from responses.
• Responses will be retained on LBI servers for a period of 2 years.
• For more information on the basis on which we process, use and store your information, please refer to our privacy policy.