Use Classes and Change of Use – Page 4
What each use class covers, what moves freely within Class E and what needs permission.
Use Classes and Change of Use articles – page 4
266 articlesMoving within Class E and the condition that can stop you
Class E lets a shop become an office, a gym or a nursery without an application. A single condition on a permission granted decades ago can take that flexibility away, and it is often buried in the planning history.
Schools, colleges and commercial training premises
Education is Class F1(a), nurseries were moved to Class E in 2020, and commercial training sits on the line between them. What that means for a change of use application.
Is a car park a use class? Parking under the 1987 Order
Parking appears in none of the use classes. A standalone car park is sui generis, ancillary parking forms part of the main use, and the difference decides whether you need permission.
Caravan and camping sites: permission and the licence
Planning permission comes first, then the site licence, and the model standards decide pitch density. What a rural caravan or camping application has to evidence.
Retail warehouses and bulky goods conditions
A goods restriction beats the use class, and varying one reopens the sequential and impact tests. What to read before taking a lease and what a section 73 application has to prove.
Public halls, clubhouses and scout huts in Class F2
Village halls, scout huts and clubhouses usually sit in Class F2, so their activities can change freely. Bar-led trading, members-only access and amplified music events are where that stops.
Museums, galleries and libraries in Class F1
Museums, public libraries, free galleries and exhibition halls share one use class, so moving between them is not development. Selling art, running a late bar or growing the cafe is a different question.
Banks, building societies and post offices in a parade
A closed bank can become a shop, a cafe, a clinic or a nursery without any application, because all of those are Class E. The consents you do need are about the frontage.
Funeral directors, laundrettes and dry cleaners: use class
All three of these uses were in the old shops class and now sit in Class E. What changes is not the classification but the plant, extraction and permitting that come with them.
Meanwhile use of a vacant unit: the planning routes
Most meanwhile uses of a vacant unit need no permission at all, because Class E is wide. The ones that do need a time limited permission, and the reversion has to be evidenced.
Holiday lets in rural buildings: which use class applies
The Use Classes Order has no category for self-catering holiday accommodation, so the answer depends on the lawful previous use and how the letting actually operates. Here is how councils approach it in rural England.
Why agricultural use is not in the Use Classes Order
Agriculture sits outside the Use Classes Order entirely, defined instead by statute. That means no internal flexibility, narrow permitted exits, and a change of use even when reverting to farming.
Equestrian use: agriculture, recreation or something else
Section 336 of the 1990 Act excludes riding horses from livestock, so keeping horses is a change of use. Grazing land stays agricultural, and the infrastructure is what gives the game away.
Live music venues, cinemas and concert halls: use class
Since September 2020 cinemas, concert halls, bingo halls and live music venues have belonged to no use class at all. That removes all flexibility and puts the agent of change principle at the centre of every case.
Permissions granted before the 2020 use class changes
The 2020 amendments preserved references to the old use classes in permissions granted before 1 September 2020. Reading those conditions, and deciding whether section 73 or a certificate is the route, is the practical work.
Changing the use of part of a building only
Part of a building can be its own planning unit where it is physically separate and used for an unrelated purpose. How to test that and how to describe the change.
Losing a community facility: Class F2 and local protection
Class F2 uses have very limited change rights, so most losses need a full application. The policy tests, the marketing evidence to interrogate, and what an ACV listing really does.
Class C2 and C2A: institutions and secure accommodation
Class C2 turns on care rather than building type, and the boundary with C3 decides affordable housing, levy liability and trip rates. How to evidence the classification.
Large HMOs as a sui generis use
The seventh resident turns a C4 share into a sui generis large HMO needing full permission. Concentration policies, communal space, parking evidence and the conditions that follow.
Small HMOs, Class C4 and the six occupant line
Three residents make a property an HMO and seven take it outside Class C4 altogether. The permitted change, Article 4 directions, licensing overlap and the evidence councils want.
The three limbs of Class C3 dwellinghouses
C3(a), (b) and (c) divide ordinary households, small care schemes and other six-resident groups. The tests turn on how the house functions, not on what the operating model is called.
Storage and distribution: the Class B8 boundary
Class B8 covers storage and distribution in two words, and most warehouse disputes turn on what has grown inside it. Trade counters, open storage, fulfilment hubs and the permitted change out.
Medical and health uses in a converted house
The classification is straightforward. The objection that decides the application is the loss of a dwelling, and keeping part of the building residential is usually the answer.
Gyms and studios within Class E(d): what it covers
Class E(d) covers indoor sport, recreation and fitness, so the use change is usually free. The exposure arrives afterwards, through statutory nuisance and dropped weights.
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