The 28 day rule for pop up retail and events

The 28 day rule is Class B of Part 4 of Schedule 2 to the General Permitted Development Order 2015, and it permits the temporary use of land for any purpose for up to 28 days in total in any calendar year. Within that allowance, only 14 days may be used for a market or for motor car and motorcycle racing. It applies to land, not to buildings, which is the first thing to check if you are planning a pop-up shop inside a vacant unit. The right comes with a short list of exclusions and a condition requiring everything you put up to come down again.

What the temporary use right actually permits

Class B permits a use of land that would otherwise be a material change of use needing permission under section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. A field used for a food festival, a car park used for a Christmas market, a yard used for a weekend sale.

It also permits the provision on the land of any moveable structure for the purposes of the permitted use. So the marquee, the stalls, the portable toilets and the stage are covered while the use is running. B.2 attaches a condition that at the end of the permitted period the use stops and any structure or works permitted by the class is removed.

The land then reverts to its lawful planning use. Nothing about using land under Class B creates a new lawful use, which is why a pattern of 28-day events over several years does not ripen into a permanent permission for events.

Counting the days correctly

The allowance is 28 days in total in a calendar year, counted for the planning unit rather than per event or per organiser. Two different operators using the same field each get a share of the same 28 days, not 28 each.

Days do not have to be consecutive and there is no limit on the number of separate occasions. What catches people is the setting up and taking down. The cautious reading, and the one to budget for, is that any day on which the land is given over to the use counts, including the day the marquee goes up and the day it comes down. A three-day event with a day either side is five days of the allowance, not three.

Keep the count on a calendar from January. The allowance resets on 1 January, so an event in late December and another in early January draw on different years, which is a legitimate piece of planning.

Uses excluded from the right

Class B does not apply where the land in question is a building or is within the curtilage of a building. That single exclusion defeats most pop-up retail plans, because a vacant shop and its yard are within a curtilage. Using the inside of a building for a different purpose is a question about use classes, and our note on indoor golf and simulator venues in vacant retail works through how that is handled.

The other exclusions are narrower.

• Use of the land as a caravan site is excluded.
• On a site of special scientific interest, motor car and motorcycle racing, clay pigeon shooting and war games are excluded.
• Use for the display of an advertisement is excluded, and advertisement consent is a separate regime in any event.

An Article 4 direction can also remove Class B for a defined area. Those are less common than householder Article 4 directions but they do exist, usually where repeated events have caused a local problem, so check the council's Article 4 register for the site.

Structures, marquees and the limits of moveable

Moveable means what it says. A marquee on ballast, a demountable stage, a trailer-mounted bar and portable cabins are all within the spirit of it. A foundation slab, a permanent base, a hardstanding or a building are not, and laying hardcore for vehicle access is engineering work that needs its own permission.

The same goes for things that stay between events. Toilet blocks left in place over the winter, a container used for storage all year, a permanent ticket hut. Each of those is a separate breach regardless of how few days the land is used.

Where the event involves amplified music, outdoor catering or generators, the planning position is only half the story. Licensing, environmental health and highways all operate independently, and a noise complaint can lead to an abatement notice under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 whether or not the use is permitted development. For a venue that will run regularly, a Noise Impact Assessment prepared to BS 4142 is the evidence that settles the argument before it starts.

When a full application becomes unavoidable

Four signs that you have outgrown the right.

1. The pattern of use exceeds 28 days, or 14 for a market, in any calendar year.
2. Structures stay on the land between events.
3. The use needs engineering works such as a surfaced access, a drainage connection or levelling.
4. The business plan depends on certainty, because enforcement risk makes a venue hard to finance or insure.

At that point the choices are a temporary planning permission for a fixed number of years, or a permanent change of use. A temporary permission is often the sensible first step, because it gives the council a review point and gives you a trading record to rely on at renewal. Barn and farm venues meet this threshold quickly, and our note on barn wedding venues and the move from temporary to permanent sets out how that application is usually framed.

Where catering is involved, extraction and odour control will be raised, and a Ventilation and Extraction Statement is worth preparing at the same time rather than after a holding objection.

Keeping records that prove compliance

Enforcement cases about the 28 day rule turn on evidence, and the burden of showing that a use is permitted development sits with the person claiming it. The practical answer is a simple log.

Record the date of each day of use, what the land was used for, what structures were on it, and keep the photographs, the social media posts, the ticketing records and the hire invoices. Those are the documents an enforcement officer will ask for, and the ones an inspector will read if a notice is appealed. A log kept at the time is worth far more than a reconstruction two years later.

If you want certainty rather than an argument, a Lawful Development Certificate under section 191 or 192 of the 1990 Act is the only formal way to confirm that a use is lawful. It costs a fee and takes eight weeks, and for a venue with investment behind it that is usually money well spent.

This is general guidance, not legal advice, and the position should be checked with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. Browse all 66 PlanScope report types if you are putting together the evidence for a temporary or permanent application. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.