Commercial Occupiers – Page 2
Sector guides for restaurants, gyms, nurseries, places of worship, shops, offices and logistics.
Commercial Occupiers articles – page 2
137 articlesA cattery: licensing, odour and neighbour amenity
Catteries are an easier amenity case than kennels, and the application should say why. Use class, licensing, wash-down drainage and the conditions that define the use.
Small scale food manufacturing in a light industrial unit
Whether food production is light industrial or general industrial depends on the process, the plant, the servicing and the hours. What councils assess and the conditions you will live with.
A skip hire or waste transfer yard: permit and permission
A skip yard needs two consents that control different things. Where planning stops and the environmental permit starts, and the conditions that get deleted on appeal.
A barn used as a wedding venue and the 28-day limit
The 28-day rule applies to land, not to barns. That single point decides whether a wedding barn is lawful or waiting for an enforcement notice.
A trade counter in a storage and distribution unit
Trade counters live inside a condition, not inside a use class. Here is how the cap is worded, what happens when sales grow, and what to read before you commit.
A filling station shop and the ancillary floorspace limit
Forecourt shops grow until a condition stops them. Here is how the ancillary test works, how floorspace caps are worded, and the route to varying one.
A private hire operator base: a use of its own
An operator licence does not settle the planning position. Article 3(6) keeps taxi and private hire businesses outside the use classes, and parking is what decides most applications.
A car showroom and the use class it sits outside
Article 3(6) of the Use Classes Order keeps vehicle sales outside the classes entirely. That means no Class E flexibility, no prior approval route, and conditions on display and lighting.
A micro distillery: use class, fire and spirit storage
A micro distillery is general industrial use, and the quantity of spirit held on site brings a fire and dangerous substances regime that planning conditions sit on top of.
A dry cleaner: the use class and the solvent permit
Planning and environmental permitting are decided by different teams on different legislation. For a laundry or dry cleaning unit, both have to line up before fit-out starts.
A tattoo and piercing studio: planning and registration
The use class position for tattoo studios varies between councils. Here is how to settle it, plus registration, waste facilities and frontage conditions.
Running events from a warehouse unit
Hiring out a warehouse for events is a material change of use. Here is the classification position, the noise problem with metal cladding, and the conditions to expect.
An adult gaming centre: planning and the gambling licence
An adult gaming centre needs planning permission and a premises licence, decided separately by the same council. Here is how each test works and how to sequence them.
Co-working space in a former retail unit
Offices and shops both sit in Class E, so most co-working conversions need no application. The exceptions are conditions, physical works, plant and the point at which evening use stops being ancillary.
A pharmacy next door to a surgery
Dispensing premises sit inside Class E, so most pharmacy conversions need no planning application. The exceptions are conditions, Article 4 areas, sui generis units, shopfronts and signage.
Vehicle repair and MOT premises: class, noise and permits
A repair workshop or MOT bay normally needs planning permission for a Class B2 use, and a spray booth needs an environmental permit on top. Here is what each one assesses.
An off licence or vape shop: planning and licensing together
Two regimes, two tests. Class E usually answers the planning question, while the Licensing Act 2003 answers a different one, and the hours they grant need not match.
A barber shop or nail bar in a small unit
Moving a barber shop or nail bar into a former Class E shop rarely needs planning permission. The extract scheme, shopfront, signage and separate registration regimes are another matter.
A bakery with a shop front: extraction and early hours
Nobody objects to the smell of bread. They object to an extract fan at 04:00 and a flour tanker before dawn, which is why the flue and the hours decide a bakery application.
A coffee roastery on a mixed use street
Class E(g)(iii) covers an industrial process that can run in a residential area without detriment to amenity. For a roastery, the afterburner and the flue decide whether that test is met.
A microbrewery with a taproom: two uses, two tests
A taproom is a drinking establishment outside the use classes, and brewing is general industrial. Getting the description of the composite use right decides what the permission allows.
A gym in a Class E unit: noise, hours and what to submit
A gym in a Class E unit usually needs no change of use application. The application that does arrive turns on impact noise from dropped weights, plant on the roof and the hours condition.
Opening a dental practice in a former shop unit
The use change from shop to dental surgery is not development, so the applications come from the plant, extract, waste store and shopfront instead. Here is the sequence and the conditions to expect.
Pop-up shop planning: what temporary use rights allow
A material change of use is development whether it lasts six weeks or six years, and the 28 day rule applies to land rather than buildings. Class E is what actually makes a pop-up lawful.
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