Nurseries, creches and day centres: which class applies

A creche, a day nursery and a day centre all sit in Class E(f) of the Use Classes Order, which is one of the tidier answers the nursery planning use class question has ever had. The wording in the order covers the provision of a creche, day nursery or day centre, and it excludes any residential use, so overnight care takes the proposal somewhere else entirely.

That single sub-class carries a workable consequence. Because Class E(f) sits inside the broad Class E, a change from any other Class E use to a nursery is not development at all.

Where childcare and day care sit in Class E

Class E was created by the September 2020 amendment to the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987, pulling together shops, food and drink, financial and professional services, indoor sport and fitness, medical and health services, creches and day care, offices, research and development and light industry.

The sub-classes relevant here are worth setting out plainly.

Before 2020 nurseries and day centres were Class D1, grouped with schools, places of worship, museums, libraries and clinics. Several of those uses went to Class F1 instead, so the old grouping has been split in two directions and local plan policies written against D1 now read across to at least three different classes.

Creche, day nursery and day centre defined

The order does not define the three terms, so they carry their ordinary meaning, and the dividing lines come from how the premises actually operate.

A creche is short-term care, often attached to another activity, with children dropped off for the duration of a session. A day nursery is regular daytime childcare, usually with early years education and a registration with the regulator. A day centre is daytime provision for adults, commonly older people or adults with care needs, offering activities, meals and personal support without overnight accommodation.

The exclusion of residential use is the boundary that matters most. A setting providing overnight care for children is a residential institution in Class C2, and a setting that is somebody's home with care provided may be C2 or C3 depending on the arrangement. The distinction between children's homes in C2 or C3 under the Use Classes Order turns on the same wording.

When a nursery is not in Class E(f)

Three situations take childcare out of E(f), and each has caught people out.

A nursery class forming part of a school is part of the school, and a school is in Class F1 as provision of education. So adding a nursery class to an existing primary is development within the school use rather than a change to E(f).

A childminder operating from their own home is normally an ancillary activity within the dwelling in Class C3, provided the use remains incidental to the residential use. Numbers, staff, hours and vehicle movements are what tip it into a material change of use, and there is no bright line in the legislation.

A holiday club or activity camp running from a village hall or a sports centre is usually an activity within the existing use rather than a new one, since the hall remains a hall. Where the childcare use becomes the primary activity, the position changes.

Movement within Class E and the traps

A change from one Class E use to another is not development, so no permission is required. An office in E(g)(i) can become a day nursery. A shop in E(a) can become one. A gym in E(d) can become one.

Three traps sit inside that freedom.

First, conditions. If the existing permission restricts the use to a specific purpose, that condition continues to bite, and a change otherwise permitted by the order is unlawful while the condition stands. Read the planning history before relying on Class E flexibility, and apply under section 73 to vary the condition where one exists.

Second, article 4 directions. An authority can remove permitted development rights, including the right of movement within Class E in a specified area, and some have done so to protect office or retail floorspace. Check the authority's list of directions.

Third, the works. Movement within Class E covers the use, not the building. External alterations, new windows, extraction equipment, boundary treatment, a canopy over the entrance and any outdoor play enclosure may each need permission in their own right.

And a fourth, more subtle one. Where the premises are in a building whose lawful use is sui generis, such as a former pub, nothing in Class E helps at all, because the building has to get into Class E before it can move around inside it.

The permitted change to a registered nursery

Part 3 of Schedule 2 to the General Permitted Development Order contains a class permitting change of use to a state-funded school or a registered nursery from certain other uses, subject to prior approval on matters including transport and highways impacts, noise, contamination and flood risk. A related class allows a reversion to the previous use.

The class references in Part 3 were rewritten after the 2020 use class changes, and Part 3 has been amended many times, so read the current consolidated order before relying on it. The prior approval route is narrower than it looks, because the right attaches to a registered nursery rather than to any childcare proposal, and the conditions attached to the class limit where it can be used.

Where it is available, it is faster than a full application and the prior approval matters are tightly defined. Where it is not, the proposal is a full application judged on its planning merits.

From a dwelling to a nursery

A house in Class C3 becoming a day nursery is a material change of use requiring planning permission. There is no permitted change, Class E flexibility does not reach a dwelling, and the loss of a dwelling is itself a consideration in most adopted plans.

Expect four issues. Loss of residential floorspace, assessed against the authority's housing policies. Parking and drop-off in a street designed for one car per house. Noise from outdoor play in a garden surrounded by other gardens. And the physical conversion, including the extraction for a kitchen and the access arrangements.

Converting a community building is often an easier route. A hall in Class F2 or a building in Class F1 moving to E(f) needs permission, and the planning arguments are usually about hours, parking and the loss of community use rather than about the principle. The related question of a cafe within a church building runs on the same policy ground.

Evidence that goes with the class

Once the class position is settled, the application turns on three practical matters, and a Planning Statement should deal with each explicitly.

Outdoor play space, because officers borrow the indoor space allowances per child by age band and the outdoor access requirement from the Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework, which is a registration requirement rather than a planning standard. Showing that the floor area supports the proposed registration numbers removes the overcrowding argument.

Drop-off and parking, since arrivals and departures fall inside the highway peak and each trip involves parking rather than stopping. A Transport Statement with a local parking survey and a management plan that staggers session times is the proportionate package for a single setting.

Noise, which for children's play is a question of absolute levels and character rather than the industrial and commercial rating method, and for kitchen and plant equipment is the other way round.

Conditions on numbers and hours

Nursery and day centre permissions are controlled by condition, commonly covering opening hours, hours of use of any outdoor area, maximum numbers on the premises, staff vehicle numbers and implementation of a management plan.

Negotiate the numbers before the recommendation is written. A cap set below the business case is worse than a refusal, because it arrives attached to a permission. Where an existing condition is the obstacle, the route is an application under section 73, and the practicalities of varying an opening hours condition apply in the same way. This is general guidance, not legal advice, so check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it, and remember that a certificate under section 191 or 192 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is the only formal way to confirm what is lawful.

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