Use Class C3 – Dwellinghouses

Use Class C3 of the Use Classes Order 1987 (as amended) is for the use as dwellinghouses. i.e. Houses, Flats, Apartments, Bungalows etc.

The full description is for the use as a dwellinghouse (whether or not as a sole or main residence) by—

(a) a single person or by people to be regarded as forming a single household
(b) not more than six residents living together as a single household where care is provided for residents;
(c) not more than six residents living together as a single household where no care is provided to residents (other than a use within Class C4).

In England, a C3 dwellinghouse does not have to be someone’s full-time or main home. A genuine second home can still fall within C3. Gravesham confirms that weekend or seasonal occupation does not stop a building being a dwellinghouse. Holiday letting is more fact-sensitive: Moore [2012] EWCA Civ 1202 confirms that some holiday use can remain within the dwellinghouse use, while a sufficiently different pattern or intensity of commercial letting can amount to a material change of use.

Interpretation of Class C3
For the purposes of Class C3(a) “single household” shall be construed in accordance with section 258 of the Housing Act 2004

 

 

 

Definitions of C3(a), C3(b) and C3(c)

 

A C3 dwelling can fall into one of three subsections. It is not development to move between 3(a), 3(b) and 3(c) – this is made clear by Article 3(1) of the Use Class Order (UCO). 

 

C3(a): Single household

 

• Typically occupied by a family or individuals living together as a single household. In this legislation – we find the text that those working as au pair, nanny, nurse, carer, governess, servant, including maid, butler, cook or cleaner, chauffeur, gardener, secretary or personal assistant should be considered as part of the same single household

• This will include those who are married, civil partners or live together as if they were married or civil partners. It would also include those who are a relative of a member of the family. A relative would include parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece or cousin. Half blood is considered the same a whole blood and a stepchild is treated as a a child.  This is defined in Section 258 of the Housing Act 2004

 

C3(b): Up to six people living together as a single household and receiving care

 

• Accommodations designed for groups of people who receive care and live communally as a single household unit, with a maximum limit of six residents

• “Care” is defined in Article 2 of the Use Classes Order. For C3 it means personal care for people who need it because of old age, disablement, past or present dependence on alcohol or drugs, or past or present mental disorder. Section 258 of the Housing Act 2004 is relevant instead to the meaning of a single household for C3(a).

 

Examples:

• Supported living arrangements for adults with learning disabilities or mental health conditions.

• A small supported-living arrangement of up to six residents where they live together as a single household and receive care. A conventional residential care home may instead fall within C2; the classification depends on the facts.

  Children’s homes need particular care. A group of children cannot simply be treated as the C3(b) household by themselves. As North Devon District Council v The First Secretary of State confirms, where the C3(b) case depends on children and a carer living together as one household, the evidence needs to show a genuinely resident adult carer. Staff who only attend on rotating shifts do not become resident members of the household. However, Crawley confirms that adults receiving even full-time care may themselves form the single household without resident carers. The detailed operation still matters, and falling outside C3(b) does not by itself answer the separate question of whether a material change of use has occurred.

 

C3(c): Up to six people living together as a single household who do not fall within the C4 HMO definition

 

• Small-scale communal living arrangements, where residents live together as a single household but do not necessarily require care

• Typically applies to shared housing arrangements that fall short of the threshold for being classed as an HMO (House in Multiple Occupation, Use Class C4). It can include religious communities or certain small co-living setups

 

Examples:

• A small religious community living communally in a single dwelling

• Shared households of fewer than six unrelated individuals where the setup does not meet HMO criteria

 

Neither the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 nor the Use Classes Order contains a complete definition of dwellinghouse. In Gravesham Borough Council v Secretary of State for the Environment and Another (judgment 8th November 1982, reported at (1984) 47 P&CR 142). The High Court identified the ability to provide the facilities needed for day-to-day private domestic existence as a distinctive characteristic.

Grendon v First Secretary of State and Cotswold District Council [2006] EWHC 1711 (Admin) confirms the other side of the same test: actual occupation matters, but the building’s physical state and facilities must also be considered. Living in a structure does not by itself make it a dwellinghouse.

The same principle was applied in the 2026 Walnut Meadow farm cabin enforcement appeal. A basic cabin with a bed but no kitchen, bathroom, WC or running water was held not to be a dwellinghouse; you can also read the full appeal decision APP/W3520/C/24/3344278.

Use Class C3 is not exhaustive of every use to which a dwellinghouse may be put. A building in C4, and in some cases accommodation within C2 or a sui generis use, can still be a dwellinghouse on the facts. That does not mean every hotel, institution or HMO is automatically a dwellinghouse.

Short-term letting is another fact-sensitive example. A dwelling may remain within C3, while a more intensive operation can instead fall within C1 or become sui generis. The Use Class Directory sets out the possible C1, C3 and sui generis outcomes, but the actual operation still has to be assessed.

This distinction matters for Part 1 of the GPDO. The particular building must satisfy the GPDO meaning of dwellinghouse, must not be a flat where the relevant Part 1 definition excludes flats, and must comply with all limitations and conditions of the right relied upon. The use-class label alone is not enough.

Valentino Plus Limited v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2015] EWHC 19 (Admin) confirmed that the predecessor to Class G could create separate C3 flats above a commercial use. A resulting lawful C3 use may potentially engage another permitted development right, including Class L, but that is not an automatic chain. Check the planning units created, the precise right, any conditions, any Article 4 direction and the facts of the proposed HMO use.

 

Permitted Development Changes for Use Class C3

 

Several permitted development rights allow changes between C3 and specified existing uses. There is no general right to move between C3 and any use class.

From another use to Use Class C3:

Class G – one or two flats (C3) above Use Class E, Payday Loan Shop, Betting Office
Class M – Sui Generis – Payday Loan Shop, Hot Food Takeaway, Launderette, Betting Office to C3
Class MA – Use Class E to C3
Class N – Sui Generis – Casino, Amusement Arcades to C3
Class Q – qualifying agricultural building and land within its curtilage to C3
Class L – C4 HMO to C3

From Use Class C3 to another use:

Class L – C3 to C4 HMO
Class H – Reverses Class G as above

If you require assistance with planning permission please either request a free fee proposal, or book a Zoom call with Ian, the founder of Planning Geek. Our team of planning consultants are here to help.

 

Examples for Use Class C3

 

According to the Planning Geek directory of uses, C3 includes Bungalows, Flats, Group of up to 6 people living together as a single household, Group of up to 6 people living together with care, Homeowner with a lodger, Houses (use by single person or family), Maisonettes (use by single person or family), Supported Housing with care (up to 6 people), Extra Care Housing † & Sheltered Housing †.

† Sheltered and extra-care housing can fall within C3 or C2. The answer is not determined solely by whether care is available or actually received. Consider the nature and intensity of care, the way residents occupy the accommodation, the degree of independence, the staffing and management arrangements and whether the scheme operates as one institutional planning unit or as individual dwellinghouses.

 

Use Class C3 Page Updated: 16th September 2026

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