Evidence pack checklist for a Class MA prior approval
Class MA fails on facts, not argument. Here is the use history evidence, the measurement work and the technical reports to assemble before you apply.
Class MA prior approval turns on evidence you gather before you apply, not on argument you make afterwards. The local planning authority is not deciding whether flats are a good idea on the site. It is checking that the building qualifies under the class, and then considering a closed list of prior approval matters. Miss a qualifying condition and the application fails on a point of fact that no amount of supporting text can rescue.
Class MA sits in Part 3 of Schedule 2 to the General Permitted Development Order 2015 and permits change of use from the commercial, business and service class to dwellinghouses.
Qualifying conditions to evidence first
Work through the qualifying tests before you spend anything on drawings.
The building must have been in a use falling within the commercial, business and service class for a continuous period of at least two years before the date of the application. Not the same occupier, and not continuously occupied, but continuously in that use class.
The class is not available where the building is listed or within the curtilage of a listed building, where it is a scheduled monument, or on certain other excluded land. Check the designations against the mapping services before anything else.
One important caution on older guidance. As introduced, the class also required the building to have been vacant for a continuous period immediately before the application, and capped the floorspace that could be converted. Those conditions were amended in 2024. Articles and checklists written earlier still describe them as live, so read the current text of the Order on legislation.gov.uk and do not rely on a summary of any vintage, including this one.
Evidencing continuous use
The two-year use test is the one authorities probe, and the evidence is documentary rather than architectural.
- Business rates records for the property covering the whole period, obtained from the billing authority
- Leases, licences or tenancy agreements with the dates and the permitted user clause
- Accounts, invoices or utility bills showing trading from the address
- Correspondence showing the address in use, such as bank statements or supplier records
- Photographs of signage, dated where possible
- Any previous planning permission or lawful development certificate establishing the use
Where the use changed within the class during the period, for example from an office to a clinic, that does not break continuity, and saying so explicitly in the covering statement saves a question.
Where there is a gap in the documentary record, a statutory declaration from the owner or the former occupier is the usual remedy. Prepare it properly, with the dates and the facts set out, rather than as a letter.
Floorspace calculation and measurement
Even without a cap on floorspace, the measured areas drive the scheme and the fee, so measure once and carefully.
State the measurement convention you have used, give the existing gross internal area by floor, and give the proposed net internal area for each new dwelling. Every new dwelling created under permitted development has to meet the nationally described space standard, so the room-by-room schedule matters. An undersized studio is a refusal on a fact.
Provide existing and proposed floor plans at the same scale, with areas annotated on the drawing rather than only in a schedule.
The matters the authority may consider
The list is closed, and every item on it is a report you may need to commission. In broad terms the authority may consider transport impacts, particularly on highway safety, contamination risk, flood risk, the impact of noise from commercial premises on the intended occupiers, adequate natural light in all habitable rooms, and, where the site is in a conservation area and the change affects a ground floor, the impact of the loss of that use on the character or sustainability of the area. Fire safety considerations apply to taller buildings.
Match a document to each:
| Prior approval matter | Evidence usually expected |
|---|---|
| Transport and highway safety | A Transport Statement with access, parking and servicing |
| Contamination | A desk study, and intrusive work where it recommends it |
| Flood risk | A Flood Risk Assessment where the site is in Flood Zone 2 or 3 |
| Noise from commercial premises | A Noise Impact Assessment addressing internal levels for future residents |
| Natural light | Room-by-room analysis, with window areas and any light wells |
| Conservation area ground floor | A short statement on the character of the frontage and the surrounding uses |
The natural light requirement is a condition of the class as well as a prior approval matter, and it applies to all habitable rooms. Landlocked rooms in the middle of a deep office floorplate are the single most common reason these schemes are cut down. A Daylight and Sunlight Assessment reporting internal conditions is worth having before you fix the layout.
Assembling the pack in order
- Designation checks, with dated map extracts.
- Use history evidence, indexed and paginated, with a covering schedule keyed to the dates.
- Existing plans, elevations and a location plan with the red line.
- Proposed plans with room areas annotated and a space standard compliance schedule.
- The technical reports matched to the prior approval matters, each as a separate document.
- A short covering statement that walks the officer through the qualifying conditions in order and then through each prior approval matter.
- The correct fee, checked against the current published schedule, since fees are indexed annually.
The covering statement is worth writing last and keeping short. Its job is to let a case officer tick the qualifying conditions in five minutes.
Conditions and their discharge
Prior approval is not the end of it. Expect conditions requiring details to be approved, and note the time limit: development permitted by the class must be completed within a period set by the Order, running from the date of prior approval. Diary that date at the outset.
Where a contamination or noise report recommends mitigation, the mitigation will be conditioned, and the verification evidence has to be gathered during the works. A Contaminated Land Assessment that sets out the verification requirements early avoids a scramble at the end.
The community infrastructure levy can apply to conversions, subject to the rules on existing lawful floorspace, so check the charging authority's position and submit the levy forms with the application rather than afterwards.
Where the class runs out
If the building fails a qualifying condition, or if the layout cannot deliver adequate natural light to every habitable room, the answer is a full planning application rather than a reworked prior approval. That is a different proposition, assessed against the whole development plan, and usually a better one for a building that needs external alterations anyway.
Deciding that early saves the fifty-six day determination period and the fee. Enter your postcode on PlanScope to see which reports a conversion of this kind is likely to need.
This is general guidance, not legal advice. Check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it, and remember that a Lawful Development Certificate is the only formal way to confirm that works or a use are lawful. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.
Frequently asked questions
How long must the building have been in Class E use?
A continuous period of at least two years before the date of the application. It does not have to have been the same occupier or continuously occupied, only continuously in a use falling within the commercial, business and service class. Movement within the class during that period does not break continuity.
Is there still a floorspace limit and a vacancy requirement?
Both conditions applied when the class was introduced and were amended in 2024. Checklists written before that change still describe them as current. Read the present text of the Order on legislation.gov.uk before relying on any summary, because the qualifying conditions are the part that cannot be argued around.
What can the council actually consider?
A closed list, broadly covering transport and highway safety, contamination, flood risk, noise from commercial premises affecting intended occupiers, adequate natural light in habitable rooms, fire safety in taller buildings, and in conservation areas the loss of a ground floor use. It cannot refuse on general design or affordable housing grounds.
Do space standards apply to a prior approval conversion?
Yes. New dwellings created under permitted development must meet the nationally described space standard. Provide a room-by-room schedule with areas annotated on the drawings, because an undersized unit is a refusal on a matter of fact that no supporting statement can address.
What evidence proves the previous use?
Business rates records covering the whole period, leases with dates and user clauses, accounts, invoices, utility bills, dated photographs of signage and any earlier permission or lawful development certificate. Where the documentary record has a gap, a properly drawn statutory declaration from the owner or former occupier is the usual remedy.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.