M&S Marble Arch court battle a ‘major case’ for real estate sector
The court battle between Marks & Spencer and the government over the redevelopment of its flagship store on Oxford Street has the potential to unlock a swathe of redevelopment across the real estate sector, according to a legal expert.
M&S wants to demolish the Oxford Street store, which it says is no longer fit for purpose, and replace it with a new building that it says will be significantly more sustainable and energy-efficient.
The plan was approved by Westminster City Council, but housing secretary Michael Gove intervened and rejected the application last July. M&S has taken legal action to overturn Gove’s decision and the case is being heard at the High Court this week.
The court battle between Marks & Spencer and the government over the redevelopment of its flagship store on Oxford Street has the potential to unlock a swathe of redevelopment across the real estate sector, according to a legal expert.
M&S wants to demolish the Oxford Street store, which it says is no longer fit for purpose, and replace it with a new building that it says will be significantly more sustainable and energy-efficient.
The plan was approved by Westminster City Council, but housing secretary Michael Gove intervened and rejected the application last July. M&S has taken legal action to overturn Gove’s decision and the case is being heard at the High Court this week.
The decision highlights the sustainability argument around redevelopment versus refurbishment. M&S said the government justified the rejection of its plans by saying there was a “strong presumption in favour of the reuse of buildings” in planning law. M&S’s lawyers said that no such presumption actually exists.
Alistair Watson, UK head of planning and environment at law firm Taylor Wessing, said the case has become a “flashpoint” for government planning policy, and part of a bigger conversation on how the real estate sector can deliver net zero.
“This is a major case for the real estate sector in terms of how we can go about delivering development,” he said. “A lot of people have been looking at projects and have put them on hold to understand what the outcome of the decision will be and what it will mean for them.”
The ruling, when it comes, “has the potential to unfreeze development projects,” Watson said, adding: “This will allow other projects to restart with principles in place around how to consider the demolition/ new-build debate in planning policy.”
Even so, he said that “urgent planning reform” is necessary as currently government policy is “jumbled and contradictory”.
Photo © Naeil Hall/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
