The York Council is to remove restrictive covenants from some commercial properties in Clifton Moor.
This will allow buildings to be converted into residential use.
The Council says that it is doing this because there is little demand for office blocks on the development and a lot of property is empty.
The Council also claims that demand for City centre offices is buoyant.
The covenants were imposed several years ago when the area was first developed.
The area suffers from significant traffic congestion which is unlikely to be sorted until expensive improvements to the northern by pass are completed.
There are some fairly big question to be answered about the quality of residential accommodation that could be provided by converting modern office and commercial buildings.
Huge areas of green field land have been reserved for this purpose – including a nearby site at Westminster Business Park – with many sites being some miles from the City centre.
It also brings into question (again) the assumptions that the Council has made in its draft Local Plan about the demand for office and commercial development land in the future.
The Councils decision was taken at a “behind closed doors” meeting.
There was no consultation with local residents or businesses about the proposal.