Bid to Allow Shops and Cafes on Ground Floor of Printmakers Yard

Developer seeks removal of planning condition that restricts usage

An unsuccessful attempt has been made to let the units. Picture: Fairview New Homes

September 8, 2026

Fairview New Homes has applied to remove a planning condition that restricts how five commercial units at its Printmakers Yard development on Brentford High Street can be used, after an 18-month marketing campaign found almost no demand for the types of businesses currently allowed.

The application — P/2026/2506, a variation of condition 21 attached to the original 2022 planning permission — asks Hounslow Council to replace the narrow Class E(g) designation (covering offices, research and development, and light industrial uses) with the broader Class E category.

This would open the units on the former Heidelberg site to a much wider range of occupiers, including shops, cafés, fitness studios, health and wellbeing services, nurseries, and other town-centre businesses.

A detailed marketing report submitted with the application shows that despite extensive advertising between April 2025 and July 2026, interest from businesses allowed under the current rules has been “extremely limited”. Henshall & Partners, the commercial agents appointed by Fairview, say they have received no meaningful offers from office, R&D or light-industrial occupiers — even though the units have been marketed at competitive rents and sale prices.

By contrast, the report shows consistent enquiries from retailers, cafés, gyms, nurseries, beauty studios, food shops, and other operators who fall within the wider Class E category but are currently barred from taking space. The enquiry list includes fitness chains, dental groups, bakeries, cafés, homeware shops, children’s clubs, yoga and pilates studios, and several convenience-store operators.

The agents argue that the restriction is now out of step with Brentford’s changing commercial landscape. They note that demand for traditional office and workshop space has “weakened significantly” across outer London, while new mixed-use developments — including The Brentford Project — have successfully attracted national retailers, leisure operators and food businesses. The report states: “The issue is not one of rental level or value expectations, but rather the restrictive nature of the existing planning consent.”

Printmakers Yard includes eight ground-floor commercial units ranging from 605 to 3,889 sq ft, delivered in shell condition with flexible lease terms or long-leasehold sale options. Three units already have full Class E permission, but the remaining five are limited to E(g). The agents say this split has created an uneven market, with the E(g) units proving far harder to let despite identical specifications.

The report also highlights the development’s strong location — directly on Brentford High Street, close to the Thames Path, and within a large and affluent catchment — arguing that the units are better suited to active town-centre uses that generate footfall and support the wider economy.

Fairview’s application seeks to remove the use restriction entirely, allowing all eight units to operate under the same flexible Class E designation. The agents say this would “significantly broaden the occupier market, reduce the risk of prolonged vacancy, and contribute positively to the vitality and sustainability of Brentford High Street.”

Hounslow Council planners will now consider the request as part of the major-application variation process.