The race for a Covid-19 vaccine and subsequent rollout has brought life sciences into the public spotlight and consciousness as never before. And in a recent speech, health secretary Matt Hancock set out the aim of transforming Britain, already a world leader in the sector, into a life sciences superpower.

Currently, however, there’s an undersupply of something pretty fundamental in this country – lab and manufacturing space. So can the planning system help build the foundations for future growth?

The well-documented decline of the UK high street has resulted in an oversupply of unused retail space which provides excellent opportunities for life science repurposing. 

On the face of it, retail units both in and out of town would be eminently suitable: accessible with good floor-to-ceiling heights, thick ground-bearing slabs, large ventilation capacities and designed for delivery and storage. 

The introduction of Use Class E in September last year merges office, lab and light industrial activity into the same class as, for example, shops and cafés so now planning permission is not required for a switch. Local planning authorities should be encouraged to embrace Use Class E and to develop policies that positively support life science development, especially in town and city centres, levelling up and creating new clusters beyond existing hubs.

Creating urban labs presents different planning challenges compared with a science park, due to the mixed-use nature of surrounding buildings, proximity to people’s homes and more heritage constraints (listed buildings and conservation areas). Mechanical plant can raise concerns from local residents and councils over noise levels, emissions and visual/heritage impact – notwithstanding that, Use Class E defines and groups uses that are acceptable in residential areas.

Ultimately, local planning authorities may sometimes need to apply some flexibility and approve applications that might not meet all detailed policies such as noise thresholds to the letter, on the basis of the wider benefits a life sciences occupier would bring to the area.

Life science occupiers often need to adapt a building to meet operational requirements such as the addition of electrical or mechanical plant and although they may not have to apply for a change of use, they are likely to need to apply for planning permission for alterations to a building. This results in additional cost, complexity and time.

A reform of planning legislation to simplify the system for making such amendment planning applications would be welcome. As the Government embarks on a wide-scale reform of the planning system, there has never been a better time to address this.   

Further information

Contact Emma Andrews

Contact Savills Planning