29 Jul 2013, 4:13 pm
Islington Council said that the application had financial support from Tower Hamlets Council and that Sutton Council had also said it would support the challenge, according to Planning Magazine.
The new permitted development rights came into force on 30 May. Areas within 17 local authorities were granted exemption from the rights following an application procedure, including the Central Activities Zone (CAZ) and Tech City in London, as well as areas in the Isle of Dogs and the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone.
The councils' application seeks permission for a judicial review of the reasons why the Government decides to grant exemption to certain areas, but not to others.
Planning Minister Nick Boles last month told a House of Commons select committee that the selection process for determining which areas should be exempt had involved consultants from outside the Department for Communities and Local Government scoring each council using a points system based on four criteria.
Earlier this month, Islington Council announced that it had issued an Article 4 Direction to opt out of the new rights.
Islington's executive member for housing and development James Murray said that the Council feared that the rules would result in a "reckless free for all" which it said could damage the borough's economy and cost around 6,000 jobs.
