Class MA after the removal of the floorspace cap

Class MA of Part 3 of Schedule 2 to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 permits the change of use of a building from Class E, the commercial, business and service class, to Class C3 dwellinghouses, subject to prior approval. When it was introduced in 2021 it carried a 1,500 m2 floorspace cap and a requirement that the building had been vacant for at least three continuous months. Amendments made in 2024 removed both of those limits. The class ma prior approval changes matter most to anyone with a larger building that was previously outside the route.

The two year qualifying use requirement survived, and it remains the first thing to check on any acquisition.

What Class MA permits and which buildings qualify

The right applies to a building in use, or last in use, within Class E. That covers former shops, restaurants and cafes, offices, light industrial units, clinics, creches, gyms and indoor sport. It does not cover a building in a sui generis use, so a pub, a hot food takeaway, a betting shop, a launderette, a nightclub or a theatre is outside the class and needs a full application.

Several exclusions apply. Listed buildings and buildings within the curtilage of a listed building are excluded. Scheduled monuments, safety hazard areas, military explosives storage areas and sites of special scientific interest are excluded. The right is restricted on certain land, and additional prior approval matters apply in conservation areas where the change affects a ground floor use.

Article 4 directions are the other check. Many authorities have made directions removing Class MA in defined town centre or employment areas, sometimes across a whole primary shopping frontage. Search the council's register for directions before you commit, because a direction defeats the route entirely.

The limits that applied when the class was introduced

From 1 August 2021, Class MA applied only to buildings with a cumulative floorspace of no more than 1,500 m2 of the existing building being changed, and required the building to have been vacant for a continuous period of at least three months immediately before the date of the application.

Those two limits shaped the market. The floorspace cap kept whole office blocks and larger retail units out of the route, pushing them towards a full application. The vacancy requirement meant an owner had to accept three months of lost income before applying, which in practice meant timing an application around a lease expiry.

The qualifying use requirement also applied, and still does: the building must have been in Class E use for a continuous period of at least two years before the date of the application.

What the 2024 amendments changed

Amendments to the Order made in 2024 removed the 1,500 m2 floorspace limit and removed the three month vacancy requirement. The two year qualifying use period was retained.

As at 15 September 2026, check the consolidated version of the Order on legislation.gov.uk before relying on any of this, because Part 3 has been amended repeatedly and further changes are possible. Read the class as it currently stands rather than working from a summary, including this one.

The vacancy and use period requirements as they stand

The two year qualifying use requirement is the one that catches acquisitions. Evidence it properly: leases and licences, business rates records, utility accounts, accounts showing trading at the premises, and photographs. Where the building changed hands during the period, the evidence has to bridge the gap.

A building that has moved between different uses within Class E during the two years is still in Class E throughout, because movement within the class is not a change of use. A building that spent part of the period in a sui generis use is not.

Where the evidence is thin, a certificate of lawfulness of existing use under section 191 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is the safe route, establishing the existing use before the prior approval application is made.

Prior approval matters under Class MA

Prior approval is not a formality. The authority considers a defined list of matters, and refusal on any of them defeats the application. The matters include:

• transport impacts, particularly highway safety and the arrangements for arrival and departure
• contamination risks on the site
• flooding risks
• the effect of noise from commercial premises on the intended occupiers
• the provision of adequate natural light in all habitable rooms
• in specified circumstances, the effect of losing the ground floor use on the character or sustainability of a conservation area

Adequate natural light is the matter that fails most applications. A deep plan retail unit or an office floorplate with a single window wall produces units with no window at all in some rooms, and the class does not permit approval where habitable rooms lack adequate natural light. Model it early. A Daylight and Sunlight Assessment is the usual evidence.

Noise from surrounding commercial premises is the second recurring problem, particularly above a restaurant or next to a plant enclosure, and a Noise Impact Assessment addressing the effect on the intended occupiers is needed rather than one addressing the effect of the development on neighbours.

Where a full application remains the better route

Four situations point towards a planning application instead.

The building or the land is excluded, or an Article 4 direction applies. The qualifying use cannot be evidenced. The scheme needs external alterations beyond what the class permits, since Class MA covers the change of use and limited works rather than a remodelled elevation. Or the unit mix and layout the building can support fall short of what the class requires, so that a scheme needing extensions, additional windows or a courtyard cut into the plan is unavoidable.

There is a commercial consideration too. A prior approval delivers no affordable housing obligation and no requirement to meet local space standards, which is its attraction. It also delivers units that some lenders and buyers treat cautiously, and a full permission can produce a better product on a building worth developing properly.

Assembling the prior approval submission

A complete submission usually contains:

1. The application form for prior approval under Class MA, with the correct fee.
2. A location plan and floor plans showing the proposed units with areas and window positions.
3. Evidence of the two year qualifying Class E use.
4. A daylight assessment covering natural light to all habitable rooms.
5. A noise assessment where commercial premises adjoin or sit below.
6. A contamination screening and a flood risk position, proportionate to the site.
7. A transport and servicing note covering parking, refuse and cycle storage.

Give the authority the evidence rather than the conclusion. The determination period for Class MA prior approval is set by the Order, and an application that arrives incomplete tends to be refused rather than held, because the clock runs regardless. The current position on reforms to permitted development is tracked on the planning law updates timeline, and the full report index sets out which supporting documents cover each matter.

PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval. This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it.