Shisha lounges and where they sit in the use classes order

Shisha has no use class of its own. A shisha lounge planning application is therefore classified by what the premises primarily does, and the answer is usually one of two things: a Class E(b) use for the sale of food and drink for consumption on the premises, where shisha is subordinate to a cafe, or a sui generis use where smoking is the main draw. Councils increasingly take the second view, and the reasoning is straightforward. The impacts of a shisha venue, late hours, outdoor structures, charcoal smoke and street activity, differ materially from those of a cafe, and a material change of use under section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is about the character of the use rather than its label.

The practical consequence is large. If the lawful use is Class E, there is no permitted change into a sui generis use, so an application is needed. If the premises operated as a cafe and shisha arrived afterwards, the council's first question will be whether the change happened without permission.

Classification of a shisha premises

Start with the lawful use. Pull the planning history, find the most recent permission or certificate, and read any conditions on it. A unit consented as a restaurant in 2015 was consented under the old A3 class, which maps into Class E(b) under the amended Use Classes Order, and the condition wording usually survives the reclassification.

Then describe what is actually proposed, in operational terms rather than marketing terms:

• The proportion of floor area and seating given to shisha against food and drink service.
• Whether shisha can be ordered without food, and whether most customers do.
• The hours of each activity.
• Whether the shisha area is indoors, in a structure outside, or in an open yard.
• Staffing, including whether charcoal preparation is a separate function.

Where shisha occupies most of the seating and most of the turnover, calling it ancillary to a cafe will not survive scrutiny. Say what the use is and argue the merits. An officer who feels the description was drafted to avoid the issue becomes a harder officer to deal with for the rest of the application.

Smoke-free legislation and enclosed space

The Health Act 2006 prohibits smoking in enclosed and substantially enclosed premises open to the public, and the detail sits in the Smoke-free (Premises and Enforcement) Regulations 2006. This is the hinge on which every shisha scheme turns, because it dictates where the smoking happens and therefore what gets built.

Premises are enclosed where they have a ceiling or roof and are wholly enclosed apart from doors, windows and passageways. They are substantially enclosed where the openings in the walls amount to less than half of the total wall area, ignoring doors, windows and the like.

So a rear structure with a roof and three solid walls is substantially enclosed and smoking in it is unlawful. Remove enough wall area and it is not. That calculation is done by an environmental health officer with a tape measure, and it is the single most common reason a shisha venue ends up in enforcement.

Structures in a rear yard and whether they are enclosed

Erecting a canopy, pergola or shelter in a rear yard is usually development requiring permission, and on a commercial unit the permitted development classes are narrow. Assume you need an application.

Design the structure to satisfy both regimes at once. That means enough open wall area to stay outside the smoke-free definition, a roof that deals with rain, and a form that does not throw smoke straight at a neighbouring window. Those requirements pull against each other, which is why so many of these structures are altered after installation and then fail one test or the other.

But retractable or louvred elements are a trap. A structure that is open when measured and closed when it rains is substantially enclosed in use, and environmental health officers know to visit in bad weather.

Odour, extraction and neighbouring windows

Shisha smoke is persistent, sweet and recognisable, and it generates complaints at distances where cooking odour would not. Because the smoking area cannot be enclosed, conventional extraction is not available in the way it would be for a kitchen.

What does work: distance from habitable windows, a structure positioned away from the shared boundary, high level dispersal rather than a louvre at head height, and limits on the number of pipes in use at once. Where a kitchen also operates, the cooking extraction is a separate exercise and the Ventilation/Extraction Statement should deal with it on its own terms. An Odour Assessment addressing the shisha area is a harder document to write, because the published assessment frameworks were built for process emissions rather than for an unenclosed smoking area, and an honest report says so.

Councils normally expect a suitably qualified author for odour and air quality work, with professional review strongly advised before submission.

Late hours and dispersal

Shisha trade is late, and the hours are where most of the negotiation happens. Expect the environmental health team to focus on three things: the last time customers can be served, the time the outdoor area must be cleared, and how customers leave.

A dispersal plan is worth preparing before anybody asks for one. Set out the staffed closure of the outdoor area ahead of the main closing time, no queuing on the footway, signage asking customers to leave quietly, and a named duty manager. Attach it to the application rather than offering it at committee.

Noise is a separate strand from odour and needs its own evidence where residential windows are close. A Noise Impact Assessment covering plant, music and customer voices in the outdoor area is usually proportionate. Where hours already granted need adjusting later, varying an opening hours condition is a section 73 application in its own right.

An illustrative example

Illustrative only: a mid-terrace Class E(b) unit on a secondary parade, with flats above the neighbouring units and a 6 metre deep rear yard. The operator proposes 24 shisha seats in a yard structure and 16 covers inside. The honest application describes a sui generis shisha lounge with ancillary food service, seeks permission for the yard structure with openings exceeding half the wall area, proposes a 23:00 last order and 23:30 yard clearance, and submits a dispersal plan, a noise assessment and an extraction statement for the kitchen. One application, four supporting documents, and no attempt to present the use as a cafe.

Fire safety and charcoal handling

Charcoal is the part of the operation that sits outside planning and causes the most serious incidents. Lit charcoal produces carbon monoxide, and poorly ventilated indoor preparation areas have caused harm.

Planning does not assess this. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 duties still apply, and the fire authority and environmental health team may both take an interest. A charcoal preparation area with dedicated mechanical ventilation, metal bins for spent charcoal, and carbon monoxide detection is what a competent operator provides. Where the application describes it, the environmental health consultation response tends to be shorter.

Conditions and enforcement history

Permissions for these venues come heavily conditioned. Common conditions cap the number of shisha pipes, fix hours for the outdoor area separately from the interior, require the structure to remain open to the stated degree, prohibit amplified music outside, and require the dispersal plan to be implemented.

Where the premises has an enforcement history, the application is harder and the council will want to see what has changed. Disclose it. A Planning Statement that sets out the planning history, the use class position and the measures proposed is more persuasive than one that leaves the officer to find the enforcement file.

Councils do take enforcement action against unlawful shisha uses, and the two routes used most are an enforcement notice against the change of use and prosecution under the smoke-free provisions. Those are separate proceedings with separate consequences, and complying with one does not answer the other.

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