Oxford Street M&S rebuild ruling delayed by three months

A ruling on plans to rebuild the flagship Marks & Spencer (M&S) store on London’s Oxford Street has been delayed by at least three months.

Housing and communities secretary Michael Gove previously said he would make a final decision on the called-in plans “on or before 3 May”, but this week he stated that the verdict must now wait until 20 July at the earliest.

A letter from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to Marks & Spencer, Westminster City Council and campaign group Save Britain’s Heritage said: “Further time is required to consider this case, and it will not be possible to reach a decision on this application on or before the above date.”

The Pilbrow & Partners-designed scheme – one of Construction News’ 10 projects to watch this year – was approved in 2021 and later backed by London mayor Sadiq Khan.

No contractors have been appointed and there is no official indication of the cost of the job, although data intelligence provider Glenigan estimates that it will involve £106m of private funding.

Last year, Westminster council approved the plans by M&S to demolish three buildings on 456-472 Oxford Street and replace them with a mixed-use, 10-storey steel-and-glass structure containing retail and office space (pictured).

Gove ordered an inquiry last June following concerns over the amount of embodied carbon and asbestos that the existing buildings contain.

M&S property director Sacha Berendji argued at the time that the building could not be modernised through refitting. He said M&S had looked “very closely” at refurbishing the existing Edwardian structure but full redevelopment was the “only viable way forward”.

Berendji added: “For a government purportedly focused on the levelling-up agenda, calling in this significant investment in one of our most iconic shopping locations will have a chilling effect for regeneration programmes across the country.”

Save Britain’s Heritage has warned that knocking down the 1929-1932 structure and rebuilding it would create more carbon emissions than “driving to the sun”, equivalent to 40,000 tonnes of CO2.