Another Landmark Building Could Be Turned into Flats


Bid made to convert Great West House towers

Great West House in Brentford. Picture: Maxwell Hamilton
Great West House in Brentford. Picture: Maxwell Hamilton

May 10, 2024

A plan has been drawn up for the conversion of a major Brentford landmark into flats.

Great West House Ltd which owns Great West House is requesting a determination from the council’s planning department as to whether planning permission is not required to convert existing office space into 263 flats.

Recently, Hounslow Council announced that it was making an Article 4 direction that would restrict Permitted Development Rights (PDR) in areas in which it wanted to maintain a supply of office space including along the Great West Road. PDR allows the conversion of commercial buildings into residential without a requirement to get full planning permission.

The changes will not take effect until next April and there already has been a plan published to convert the Dell EMC building into flats since the announcement.

There are two applications ((PAC/2024/1397 and PAC/2024/1398) for towers GW1 and GW2 respectively at 993 Great West Road which is a 60-year-old development on a 3.2 acre site. There would be 153 flats in GW1 and 110 in GW2.

An application (P/2024/0008) for the taller GW2 tower was submitted earlier this year to convert the upper stories of the seventeen storey building into storage units with the possibility of switching back to office space if demand rises again.

Hounslow Council’s planning website is not available for searching or commenting on applications between 3 and 15 May.

Consultations and review timescales are being extended by up to 2 weeks to accommodate the transition.

 

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