Permitted development office to residential (FOI-2969)
Message from Hackney Council
Dear ***** *****
Re: Freedom of Information Request.
Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. We would like to offer our sincere apologies for the delay in responding to your enquiry. Your request has been considered and our response is in bold below.
You requested the following:
I would like to receive a list of all applications for prior approval/prior notification received by your council for conversions of office space (B1) to residential use (C3) since 2014.
For each application included in this list please can you include the following information
1: The planning reference
2: The address the application relates to
3: The date each application was registered
4: Brief description of application
5: Name of the applicant/developer
6: The decision (e.g. granted, refused or deemed not to require prior approval notification)
7: The date of the decision
8: How many units of office space were there
9: How many units of housing were created
Q1-9: The information you have requested is exempt under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act. Section 21 (2a) states that information which is reasonably accessible to the applicant (even if it is accessible only on payment) is exempt. This is an absolute exemption.
Planning application can be searched by the Councils website, you can search using application type (Full Planning permission), (Development Type) extension only (status) and status (Registered) I have provided a link below, if the link does not work copy and paste into browser http://planning.hackney.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/generalsearch.aspx.
10: How many homeless residents in total have been placed into units within the converted offices by Council(s) as temporary accommodation?
This question does not contain a timeframe, which will be required in order for a search to be initiated for this.
11: How many units are being used by Council(s) as temporary accommodation for homeless residents.
The Council have taken 29 units in Basildon for use as temporary accommodation.
12: How many complaints has the Council received that related to conditions in this temporary accommodation
The Benefits and Housing Needs Services has no complaints recorded from residents of this accommodation.
13: How many inspections of this temporary accommodation did the Council carry out
Visits and inspections are carried out by the visiting officers in the Placement and Resettlement Team, Audit officers and officers from the Housing Supply team. Visits are for all sorts of reasons and the Council does not have a system that collate that.
Two visits were made by a representative of the Housing Supply team, prior to accepting the property as temporary accommodation.
14: How many Category 1 Hazards were found during inspections of temporary accommodation
No category 1 hazards were found during the visits undertaken by the Housing Supply team.
15: How many improvement notices did the council issue in relation to temporary accommodation?
The Service is not aware of any improvement notices being issued by Basildon Council.
16: How much money per week is the Council spending to house these homeless residents in this temporary accommodation?
This question is too broad to be answered with any accuracy in its current form. For instance, whilst there is a cost of providing the temporary accommodation, revenue from rental payments/Housing Benefit would need to be taken account of.
Cost to the Council would also include, for example, officer time in administrating housing and Housing Benefit applications, maintaining rent accounts etc, which would be extremely difficult to quantify.
Appeals & Complaints Procedure
If you are dissatisfied with this response and wish to appeal, please write to the Information Management Team and this will be dealt with through our Internal Review procedure.
Information Management Team - Governance
London Borough of Hackney
Hackney Service Centre
1 Hillman Street
London E8 1DY
Your request for an internal review should be submitted to us within 40 working days of receipt by you of this response. Any such request received after this time will only be considered at the discretion of the Council.
If you are still not satisfied following the Internal Review, you have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at the contact details provided below.
Information Commissioner"s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 700
Yours sincerely
Information Management Team
ICT Services
London Borough of Hackney
Page updated: 26/01/2021 02:42:53