Ten flats have been allowed in a Chiswick office building after an Inspector rejected claims that losing its commercial use would damage the surrounding conservation area.
The appeal succeeded because the building’s secondary mews setting was different from the active commercial frontages nearby. Its contribution came from the townscape and its relationship with surrounding buildings, not from keeping the offices in business use.
Inspector Kayleigh Lancaster allowed Ski World Ltd’s appeal 6010652 on 24th September 2026, granting prior approval for the Class MA conversion at Turnham Green Terrace Mews.
A mews setting, not an active high-street frontage
The modern Class E office building has three storeys and a basement, with approximately 1,442 sqm of gross internal floorspace. It sits within the Chiswick High Road Conservation Area, behind the busier commercial street.
Hounslow Council argued that removing commercial activity would harm the area’s character and sustainability. The Inspector instead examined what this particular property contributed.
The mews was physically and functionally separate from the principal commercial frontages. Activity was lower, views were limited and the building did not have a traditional shopfront whose loss would break an active shopping frontage.
Lancaster found that the site’s contribution derived from its distinctive townscape and spatial relationship with surrounding development, rather than the presence of active commercial uses
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Changing the use would therefore preserve the conservation area’s character and sustainability. The ground-floor conservation-area test in paragraph MA.2(2)(e) was satisfied.
Why this Class MA conversion was different
The outcome contrasts with the recent Folkestone Class MA refusal, where a former salon’s commercial role formed part of a recognisably commercial frontage. There, the absence of external alterations did not remove the harm caused by losing that role.
For applicants, the distinction is the actual contribution of the building and its use, not simply whether it lies inside a conservation area. Chiswick is a different application of the same site-specific assessment, not a ruling that commercial uses in conservation areas can always be lost.
Our Class MA guide explains the wider conversion rules and the matters which can be considered at prior approval.
Road noise was not the commercial-noise test
The appeal also succeeded on noise. The Inspector distinguished road traffic from the specific prior-approval question in MA.2(2)(d): noise from commercial premises affecting future residents.
The assessment described a relatively tranquil setting. The principal commercial source was conversation from outdoor café seating, occurring during the day and for limited periods. The submitted evidence showed acceptable internal conditions, including with windows open for natural ventilation.
Concerns about different, noisier Class E activities moving into neighbouring premises were not treated as evidence of the existing situation. Lancaster regarded those future scenarios as speculative.
Prior approval was granted with a condition addressing any unexpected contamination discovered during the works. The Class MA conditions also require completion within three years of the prior-approval date and continued Class C3 use, subject to the allowance for ancillary purposes.
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