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44 Essex Street London WC2R 3JF

26/00958/P3JPAPrior Approval Class E to Dwellings (MA)Approved
Outline / PiP

Approved on 10 April 2026

Site boundary (council red line)

Proposal

Change of use of Class E existing offices on the lower ground and third floor to Class C3 dwellinghouses

Received
16 February 2026
Ward
St James's
  1. Received16 Feb
  2. Validated16 Feb
  3. Consult.
  4. Target12 Apr
  5. Decided10 Apr

Decided in 53 days (council typically 49)

About this application

This is an outline application for a change of use at 44 Essex Street London WC2R 3JF. Westminster has handled 218 applications of this type. This one was decided in 53 days, 4 days longer than Westminster's typical decision time. The site is in the Strand conservation area, with 20 listed buildings nearby. There are no previous applications recorded at this address. In the past year there have been 475 applications across St James's. We hold 186 applications in total for the WC2R postcode area.

82% of outline applications at City of Westminster were approved. Across all application types, the council typically decides in about 7 weeks (median).

Based on decided applications received in the last 3 years.Planning something similar? See what gets approved on your street

Application details

Postcode
WC2R 3JF
Application type
Prior Approval Class E to Dwellings (MA)
Scale / size
Small

Planning application dates

Date validated
16 February 2026
Consultation expiry
18 March 2026
Target decision date
12 April 2026

Applicant and agent

Agent
Arya Douge
Architect profile
ARYA DOUGE LTD
Agent address
31 Percy Street London W1T 2DD United Kingdom

Planning decision

Statutory period
55 days

Publicity

Last advertised
25 February 2026
Advertisement expiry
18 March 2026

Additional information

Planning Portal ID
PP-14707732
Comments
0
Documents
17

Site constraints

Checking the site
2/3
Council recordsAppealsFlood risk

Designations that overlap or adjoin the site outline.

  • Conservation area: Strand
  • Listed building: Grade II: 23, Devereux Court Wc2On or next to this site · +1 more
  • Article 4 direction: Article 4 Basement Development Permitted Rights Removed
  • Flood zone 1: Low probability (rivers and sea)
Also checked, none recorded (21)

flood storage areas, tree preservation orders, green belt, scheduled monuments, World Heritage Sites, World Heritage Site buffer zones, registered parks and gardens, registered battlefields, Heritage at Risk entries, nutrient neutrality catchments, national parks, National Landscapes, SSSIs, Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas, Ramsar sites, ancient woodland, national nature reserves, local nature reserves, heritage coasts and brownfield registers.

A guide only, from official open data; it is not a planning search. Flood zones cover rivers and sea, not surface water.

Data © Crown copyright and others · sources and licences

Contains public sector information from planning.data.gov.uk (MHCLG and local planning authorities), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

© Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. The Historic England GIS Data contained in this material was obtained on 2026-11-03. The most publicly available up to date Historic England GIS Data can be obtained from HistoricEngland.org.uk.

© Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

© Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2026. All rights reserved. Flood Map for Planning, Open Government Licence v3.0.

Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Source: Westminster

Contains public sector information from the Planning London Datahub, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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