A developer has won a decade-long battle with Ealing Council to convert offices above a Barclays Bank into flats. Located near Ealing Broadway station, the former Barclays office space at 52-53 The Broadway is set to become six flats.
Background of the dispute
A prior planning application to convert the first-floor space was refused by Ealing Council in November 2016. The council argued that the space lawfully fell under community and/or medical class, rather than the class of offices, making it ineligible to be converted into residential space at the time.
To overcome this, the applicant provided evidence of a long-term tenancy by Barclays Bank, which occupied the first-floor offices alongside its ground-floor retail branch. Planning documents proved continuous, lawful commercial office (Class E) use by Barclays since at least 2007.
Council accepts new evidence
As the office use had been uninterrupted for nearly two decades, the council accepted that its 2016 objection was no longer valid. The council’s historic understanding that the first floor was reserved for community/medical (Class D1) use stemmed from a nearby planning permission on the same block. To win approval in 2026, the developer’s planning team had to legally separate their site from this neighbouring unit.
Approval and details of the conversion
Under new permitted development rights introduced in 2021, commercial buildings can be converted to housing if they have been in lawful commercial use for a continuous period of at least two years. Having been granted prior planning approval on August 5, the floor will now be converted into four studios, a one-bedroom, and a two-bedroom flat. The development will be car-free, instead offering ten secure bicycle parking spaces. There are no changes expected to the operating of Barclays Bank from the ground floor.
