The government has told councils that they should encourage live/work development and home work as part of their efforts to promote economic development.
The strong pro-live/work stance is outlined in draft Planning Policy Statement 4, which provides the strongest backing for live/work in planning guidance so far.
Policy EC4 says that local planning authorities should as part of their approach to economic development 'facilitate new working practices such as live/work or the use of residential properties for home working'.
The statement, which pulls together all existing planning guidance relating to economic development in urban and rural areas, goes beyond the policy outlined in the previous draft PPS4, which the new documents replaces, which said LPAs should favour applications that responded to technological change.
Citing the Small Business Survey 2006-07, which shows that 34% of all business start ups are now home based, it says: 'The proposed policy recognises that new ways of working such as live/work or the use of residential properties for home working have an impact upon spatial planning which should be considered when planning for economic development.'
PPS4: Planning for Prosperous Communities is currently out for consultation.
View draft PPS4.
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