Pubs and drinking establishments after the 2020 changes

A public house is sui generis. That is the whole starting point for any change of use involving a pub in England, and it has been the position since the September 2020 overhaul of the Use Classes Order removed Class A4 altogether. Sui generis means the use sits in no class, so there is no class to move within and no permitted change out of it. Every proposal to turn a pub into something else needs planning permission.

Plenty of commercial agents and more than a few local plan policies still talk about A4. Ignore the label and work from the current order.

Where pubs sit in the use classes now

The 2020 amendment moved most high street uses into the broad Class E and swept several others into the sui generis list. Public houses, wine bars and other drinking establishments are on that list, alongside drinking establishments with expanded food provision, hot food takeaways, live music venues, cinemas, concert halls, bingo halls and dance halls.

Class E, by contrast, covers shops, financial and professional services, cafes and restaurants, offices, light industry, clinics, creches, gyms and indoor sport. Movement anywhere within Class E is not development. So a restaurant can become a shop without permission, and a pub cannot become either.

The practical consequence runs in one direction only. A shop in Class E(a) proposing to become a pub needs permission, because it is leaving Class E. A pub proposing to become a restaurant needs permission, because sui generis uses have no permitted changes. Both applications are judged on their planning merits rather than against any deemed consent.

Drinking establishments with expanded food provision

This category was introduced in 2017 and survived the 2020 reorganisation as its own sui generis use. It covers premises where the primary use remains the sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises, with food provision expanded beyond what was ancillary.

The distinction matters for two reasons. A gastropub that has shifted its business towards food has probably not changed its planning use at all, because the primary use is still a drinking establishment, so no application is needed for the trading change. And a pub that has gone so far towards food that the primary use has become a restaurant has changed use, which means an unauthorised change unless permission was obtained.

Where that line falls is a question of fact and degree, judged on floor area given to each activity, turnover split, opening pattern and how the premises present themselves. Where the history is unclear on the documents, a certificate of lawfulness of existing use under section 191 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 settles it, and that certificate is the only formal way to confirm what the lawful use is.

No permitted change, and no Class MA route

Class MA of Part 3 of Schedule 2 to the General Permitted Development Order allows a change from Class E to residential use in Class C3, subject to prior approval and a list of conditions. It applies to Class E. A pub is not in Class E, so Class MA is not available for a pub, however long it has been vacant.

Demolition is restricted too. The permitted development right to demolish buildings was amended in 2017 so that it does not extend to a pub or drinking establishment, which means demolition itself needs planning permission. Check the current consolidated order, because Part 11 and Part 3 have both been amended repeatedly since.

Community protection policy and what it asks for

National policy expects plans and decisions to guard against the unnecessary loss of valued facilities and services, with public houses named as an example of the kind of facility in mind. The current Framework was published on 17 August 2026 and is arranged by policy codes rather than paragraph numbers, so quote the code from the published version rather than the numbering in older documents.

Local policy is usually more specific and is the policy that decides the application. Most adopted plans in areas with a pub protection policy ask for three things: evidence that the business is not viable in its current form, evidence that the premises have been marketed as a pub for a stated period without a buyer or tenant, and an assessment of the remaining provision within a reasonable walking distance.

Read the policy wording closely before commissioning anything. Policies differ on whether the test is viability or marketing or both, on the marketing period, and on whether the loss of the last pub in a settlement is treated differently from one of several in a town centre. A Planning Statement has to engage with the actual wording rather than a general argument about trading conditions.

Marketing and viability evidence that stands up

Marketing evidence fails for predictable reasons. The asking price or rent was set above what the trade would support. The premises were marketed as a development opportunity rather than as a going concern. The particulars were not placed with agents who deal in licensed property. Or the period fell short of what the policy requires.

So do it properly from the start. Keep the particulars, the portal listings, the enquiry log with dates and outcomes, the correspondence showing why each enquiry did not proceed, and an independent opinion on the asking terms. Twelve months of a genuine campaign, documented, is worth more than three years of a listing nobody saw.

Viability evidence should address the business rather than the applicant. Trading accounts for at least three years, the trade split, the rent or notional rent, the condition of the building and the cost of putting it right, and a comparison against what a competent operator could reasonably achieve. Officers are alert to accounts that reflect a declining operation rather than an unviable asset.

Asset of community value listings

Under Part 5 of the Localism Act 2011 a parish council or a local community group can nominate land or a building as an asset of community value, and the local authority decides whether to list it. Pubs are among the most commonly listed assets in England.

Listing does not stop a sale or a change of use. It triggers the community right to bid, so when the owner wants to dispose of the asset there is an interim moratorium of six weeks within which a community interest group can express an interest, followed by a full moratorium of six months during which the owner cannot sell to anyone else. The owner is not obliged to accept a community offer at the end of it.

For planning purposes the listing is a material consideration rather than a prohibition, and it is strong evidence of community value in the policy sense. Sometimes the proposal that succeeds keeps a smaller bar alongside another use, and the mechanics of splitting a commercial unit into two are the same whether the driver is policy or trade.

Conditions on hours, gardens and plant

Pub permissions and change of use permissions into pub-like uses are controlled by condition, and the conditions are where the operational argument happens. Opening hours, the hours during which external areas may be used, amplified music and live music, delivery and collection times, waste storage, and extraction and plant.

Three points save trouble later. A premises licence under the Licensing Act 2003 is an entirely separate consent, and licensed hours beyond the planning condition cannot lawfully be used. External areas generate the most complaints, so deal with the beer garden, the smoking shelter and any terrace in the application rather than leaving them to an enforcement conversation. And plant noise is assessed as industrial and commercial sound, so a Noise Impact Assessment using the rating level method is the right document for the kitchen extract and the cellar cooling, with the Ventilation/Extraction Statement covering odour and discharge height.

Where an existing hours condition is the problem, an application under section 73 to vary it costs less and moves faster than a fresh permission, and the practicalities of varying an opening hours condition decide whether it is the right route. This is general guidance, not legal advice, so check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it.

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