Policy information sourced from the Tower Hamlets Local Plan

D.TC3 Retail outside our town centres 

1) Outside of the borough’s Major, District and Neighbourhood Centres, new retail development will be subject to:

  • a sequential test, and
  • an impact assessment where individual units or extensions exceed 200 square metres gross floorspace.

2) Development resulting in the loss of A1 shops outside of Major, District or Neighbourhood Centres will only be supported where:

  • the shop is within a 300 metres walking distance of the nearest alternative A1 shops, and
  • the shop has been vacant for a period of more than 12 months and robust evidence is provided of efforts made to market the shop unit over that period at an appropriate rent (providing examples of three comparable shop unit rents within the vicinity), or
  • the site is unsuitable for continued retail use due to its accessibility, size or condition and there is no viable prospect of a retail use on the site, taking account of the projected residential growth in the vicinity.

For more information please see the Local Plan