Better Homes Enfield has been warning for several years about the risks of homes created by converting offices into flats.

These are not normal housing developments. Hundreds of flats have been delivered in Enfield via permitted development rights, which allow offices and other commercial buildings to be converted into flats without the full planning scrutiny that would usually apply. That means weaker control over design, ventilation, overheating, access to outdoor space, the provision of affordable housing, and the wider impact on the area.

In some cases, families are living in small studios or one-room flats, with limited ventilation, no balcony or garden, and no proper escape from heat.

Recently published research by University College London (UCL) found that nearly half of surveyed residents living in permitted development conversions reported overheating in summer. Residents also reported problems with street noise, air pollution and security concerns, which can make it difficult or impossible to open a window. More than half of those surveyed lacked access to outdoor green space.

That is deeply worrying in a warming climate. Heat is not just uncomfortable; it affects sleep, mental health and physical health. In recent summers, heat has been linked to well over a thousand deaths a year in England, and nearly 3,000 in the extreme summer of 2022. Overheating can be particularly dangerous for older people, disabled people, people with health conditions, young children, and people living in a small, badly ventilated flats during a heatwave.

Enfield has already seen hundreds of homes created through office conversions, and there are still more being approved by the Council. Some appear to be built to a reasonable standard, but not all. All new homes should be places of safety and security and not put people’s health at risk.

The uncomfortable truth is that this problem was allowed to happen. Enfield Council has been aware of residents’ concerns about poor-quality office conversions since at least 2019. Issues with these types of flats were very well publicised in the media.

“I live in a studio with my 5-year-old daughter, and I have to share the bed with her. It’s extremely hot in the spring and summer because of a lack of space.” – Enfield resident living in a converted office block (2019)

“It always smells, there needs to be a serious effort to clean the lobbies, lift, and hallways. Also, proper ventilation and cooling to prevent overheating is a MUST.” – Enfield resident living in a converted office block (2026)

In 2020, and under pressure from residents, the Council agreed to look at implementing a planning tool called an “Article 4 Direction”. By then, most other London boroughs had already followed this route because it enabled them to regain some control over office-to-residential conversions. However, Enfield Council still failed to implement this.

The national picture is no better. In 2024, the Guardian reported that, while in opposition, Labour had said it would scrap the rules that allowed developers to bypass the normal planning process, but that, once in government, those promises were not kept. The result is that the same system remains in place, and more people may be left living in homes that are too small, too hot, and with no outside space to speak of.

What should happen now?

Better Homes Enfield supports the redevelopment of empty and under-used buildings. Well-designed conversions can provide decent and much-needed homes and make better use of land and existing buildings. But that is not the same as allowing a planning loophole to produce poor-quality and potentially dangerous housing with inadequate safeguards.

In our view, the new council administration should commission an urgent review, including whether an Article 4 Direction should now be adopted. Doing so would help the Council to control the quality of future conversions and to refuse those that fail to meet policy requirements.

The review should not only look at future conversions. It should also identify existing office-to-residential blocks in Enfield, assess whether residents are facing serious overheating or ventilation problems, and set out how the Council will use its housing, environmental health and enforcement powers where homes are unsafe.

The government should go further and end the use of permitted development rights for office-to-residential conversions. Every new home should be subject to proper planning scrutiny, meet minimum space standards, have safe ventilation, not overheat, have access to outside space, and contribute fairly to the costs of local infrastructure.

At the very least, the government should urgently change permitted development rules so that office-to-residential conversions are required to meet robust overheating, ventilation and thermal comfort standards, not just basic minimum checks.