Use Classes and Change of Use – Page 10
What each use class covers, what moves freely within Class E and what needs permission.
Use Classes and Change of Use articles – page 10
266 articlesPubs after 2020: why a drinking establishment is sui generis
Drinking establishments sit outside Class E and outside permitted development. Here is what that means for changing a pub, and the evidence councils expect.
Betting shops, payday lenders and the sui generis trap
Taken out of Class A2 in 2015 and left outside Class E in 2020, betting shops sit in a class of their own. Here is what that means for occupiers and landlords.
C3 to C4: small houses in multiple occupation
Two sharers is C3 and three is C4. How the Use Classes Order draws the line, the amenity standards councils apply and what an HMO application has to prove.
Class F1 and F2: learning and local community uses
A village shop, a church hall, a school and a playing field all sit outside Class E, so none of them gets the free movement that makes Class E flexible. Here is what each F class covers.
Class E to a hot food takeaway: why it needs permission
The 2020 Use Classes changes pushed hot food takeaways out of the classes altogether. A Class E restaurant cannot become one without an application, and extraction usually decides the outcome.
Employment land policies that block a change out of B8
Storage and distribution was left out of the 2020 use class reforms, so Class MA and within-class movement are unavailable. Adopted employment land policies then decide the application.
Holiday lets, short term rentals and the use class question
A dwellinghouse is Class C3 and short-term letting is not a separate use class in England. Whether permission is needed depends on intensity, occupancy and character, with a 90-night statutory allowance in Greater London.
Shop to residential: the routes and their limits
Class MA is cheaper and narrower, a full application is slower and more flexible. Which you use depends mostly on whether the building qualifies at all.
Micropubs and taprooms: the sui generis application
Drinking establishments left the use class system in 2020, so every micropub needs a full application. These are decided on noise, hours and the smoking area.
Sui generis after 2020: the full list and what it means
Pubs, takeaways, cinemas and live music venues left the use class system in September 2020. Here is the full sui generis list and what it means for a change of use.
Conditions that survived the 2020 use class reforms
Class E released units that were unconditioned. It released almost nothing that was tied by condition, and that is usually discovered after an offer is made.
Dog day care and grooming: which use class applies
The Use Classes Order says nothing about animals. Working out which activity you actually run, grooming or day care or boarding, decides whether you need permission and what evidence goes with it.
Padel, indoor golf and new leisure uses: E(d) or sui generis
Class E(d) covers indoor sport for visiting members of the public. Outdoor courts, a destination bar or a closed membership can take a padel or simulator venue outside it.
Farm shop: Class E, F2 or sui generis
A farm shop can be ancillary to farming, Class E retail, Class F2 or partly sui generis. The proportion of goods from the holding usually decides which, and conditions police it.
Places of worship in Class F1: the change of use route
Public worship sits in Class F1 alongside schools and public halls. What that means when the building you have found is a shop or a warehouse, and how the application is assessed.
Retail to gym under Class E: what the council still controls
Retail and indoor fitness both sit in Class E, so the use change is free. The plant, extraction, noise, shopfront and old conditions on the unit are a different matter.
Office to nursery: moving from E(g)(i) to E(f)
Moving an office to a day nursery stays inside Class E, so the use change needs no permission. The physical works, the play space and the drop-off arrangements are another matter.
Mixed use and the planning unit: getting the description right
A composite mixed use falls outside every use class, which makes the description of development the only definition of what is permitted. Here is how to identify the unit and draft the wording.
Class Q barn conversion: the tests that decide it
Four questions decide a Class Q prior approval, and all four can be answered before you spend money: qualifying agricultural use, structural suitability, the floorspace limits and the designations.
Article 4 directions on C3 to C4: checking before you buy
Without a direction, converting a house to a small HMO needs no application. With one, it needs permission that a concentration policy may refuse. How to check, and what to do with the answer.
C4 house in multiple occupation or sui generis HMO
Six residents is the dividing line. Below it a house in multiple occupation sits in Class C4 with a permitted change from C3; above it the use is sui generis and needs a full application.
Dark kitchens and delivery only food: the use class
A delivery-only kitchen fits no use class cleanly. Here is why Class E arguments usually fail and what evidence actually decides these applications.
Hot food takeaway or restaurant: where the line falls
The test is whether consumption is mostly on the premises. Get it wrong and a unit loses Class E flexibility permanently and becomes sui generis.
Moving within Class E: the evidence to keep
No application, no decision notice, no record. Build the evidence file at the time of the change, while the documents are to hand and the people who know still work there.
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