Temporary use of a vacant unit for a pop up
The 28 day right in Part 4 Class B applies to land, not to buildings or land within a building's curtilage. That single limitation defeats most high street pop ups.
Most people asking about pop up shop planning permission for a temporary use assume that short duration means exempt. It does not. The test in section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is whether there has been a material change in the use of land or buildings, and a change that lasts six weeks can be just as material as one that lasts six years. What saves most pop ups is either that the proposed use sits in the same use class as the lawful one, or that a specific permitted development right applies.
Where neither is true, the honest answer is that a temporary use needs permission, and that the application is usually straightforward because the authority can control it with an end date.
Temporary use rights and their limits
Part 4 of Schedule 2 to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 is the part everyone reaches for. Class B of that Part permits the use of land for any purpose for not more than 28 days in total in any calendar year, with 14 days for markets and for motor car and motorcycle racing, together with the provision on the land of any moveable structure for that use.
Read the wording carefully, because the limitation that defeats most high street pop ups is in Class B.1. The right does not apply where the land is a building or is within the curtilage of a building. A vacant shop unit is a building. So Class B will not, on its own, let you run a four week retail pop up inside it.
Where Class B does help is open land. A car park, a yard, a field, a hard standing. Food trucks, Christmas markets, seasonal garden centre overspill, a temporary sales cabin on a development site.
The 28 days is also cumulative for the land across the calendar year and across users, not per event and not per operator. Two separate 20 day events on the same yard in one year will exceed the allowance even if different people organise them.
How long a temporary use may run
| Route | Maximum duration | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Part 4 Class B | 28 days per calendar year, 14 days for markets | Land, not buildings or land in a building's curtilage |
| Part 4 Class BA | Nine months in any 27 month period | Buildings and land used for film making, subject to its own limits |
| Change within the same use class | No limit, because it is not development | Movements inside Class E, for example a shop to a café |
| Temporary planning permission | Whatever the condition says, commonly one to three years | Anything, including buildings |
The film making right in Class BA is the one most people have never heard of, and it is genuinely useful on sites waiting for redevelopment. It carries its own conditions on notification, reinstatement and excluded land, so check the current text rather than relying on a summary.
Uses excluded from the temporary rights
Class B does not apply where the land is within a site of special scientific interest and the use is for certain activities, where the use is as a caravan site, or where the purpose is the display of an advertisement. Permitted development rights can also be withdrawn by an Article 4 direction or by a condition on an earlier permission, and both are easy to miss.
The condition point is worth dwelling on. Many consented car parks and service yards carry a condition restricting use to parking or servicing in connection with the main building. That condition overrides the general right, and running a market on the land would be a breach of condition rather than permitted development.
Check the planning history of the land itself, not just the building it serves.
Conditions and the requirement to revert
A permitted temporary use under Class B has to stop at the end of the period, and the land has to revert to its previous lawful use. There is no automatic right to carry on because nobody complained, and no accrual of rights from repeated use.
The same applies to a temporary planning permission. Conditions imposed under section 72(1)(b) of the 1990 Act can require the use to cease and the land or building to be restored on a stated date. Breaching that is a breach of condition, which the authority can enforce by a breach of condition notice with no right of appeal.
Where a pop up has been successful and the operator wants to stay, the route is a fresh application for the permanent use, made before the temporary permission expires. Leaving it until afterwards puts the operator in breach and weakens the negotiating position considerably.
Where a full application is needed instead
A temporary application is normally proportionate and inexpensive compared with a permanent one, but the officer will still want the material considerations addressed. For a food or drink pop up in a unit whose lawful use is retail, the recurring issues are cooking smells, plant noise, late hours and refuse.
Three documents cover most of it. A short Ventilation and Extraction Statement dealing with the extract route and discharge point, a Noise Impact Assessment where there are residential neighbours and any external plant, and a Transport Statement where the use will draw more visitors than the lawful use did.
For a larger temporary retail operation out of a town centre, the sequential and impact tests still apply in principle, and a Retail Impact Assessment may be asked for. Temporary status reduces the weight of the harm argument. It does not remove the test.
Licensing and other consents for events
Planning permission is one consent among several, and the others often have shorter lead times and stricter deadlines.
- A temporary event notice under the Licensing Act 2003 covers alcohol sales, late night refreshment and regulated entertainment for a limited period, with annual caps per premises and per person giving the notice.
- Street trading consent or a licence under Schedule 4 to the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 is needed for trading from the street in most areas.
- A pavement licence is needed for tables and chairs on the highway.
- Advertisement consent under the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007 may be needed for signage, including on hoardings and in windows above certain sizes.
- Food business registration with the local authority is required at least 28 days before trading.
And none of these cure a planning breach. An operator with a licence and no planning permission is still open to enforcement.
Recording the start and end dates
The practical discipline that keeps a temporary use lawful is a written record. Note the first and last day of each period of use, keep the total for the calendar year running, and keep evidence of the reversion to the previous use.
If the authority later queries whether the 28 days were exceeded, the burden of showing the use was permitted falls on the operator. Dated photographs, booking records and a simple log are usually enough. Nothing recorded, and the position becomes very hard to defend. If the plan is to move from a trial into a permanent operation, the retail tests that apply to a cash and carry converting to a trade counter covers how officers approach use change in commercial units.
This is general guidance, not legal advice, and permitted development rights are amended frequently. Check the current text of the General Permitted Development Order and the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. A lawful development certificate is the only formal way to confirm that a use is lawful.
Enter your postcode on PlanScope to see which reports a temporary or permanent change of use is likely to need. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.
Frequently asked questions
Does a pop up shop need planning permission?
It depends on the lawful use of the unit. A change within the same use class, such as a shop becoming a cafe inside Class E, is not development and needs no permission. A change outside the class needs permission, and the fact that it is temporary does not exempt it from the material change of use test in section 55 of the 1990 Act.
What does the 28 day temporary use right cover?
Class B of Part 4 of Schedule 2 to the General Permitted Development Order 2015 permits use of land for any purpose for up to 28 days in a calendar year, reduced to 14 days for markets and motor racing, with moveable structures. It does not apply where the land is a building or lies within the curtilage of a building.
Is the 28 days per event or per year?
It is cumulative for the land across the calendar year, and it is not divided between operators. Two separate 20 day events on the same yard in one year exceed the allowance even if different organisers run them. Keep a running log of dates to evidence compliance.
What happens when a temporary use ends?
The use must stop and the land or building must revert to its previous lawful use. Rights do not accrue from repeated or unchallenged use. Where an operator wants to stay, the route is a fresh application for the permanent use made before the temporary permission expires, not afterwards.
Does a licence remove the need for planning permission?
No. A temporary event notice, street trading consent, a pavement licence and food business registration are separate regimes with their own deadlines and their own caps. None of them cures a planning breach. An operator holding all of them without the planning position settled is still exposed to planning enforcement action by the council.
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.