Use Class Changes in 2020/21
On the 21st July 2020 the government published the The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2020 which came into force on the 1st September 2020. The government has issued an explanatory document on the changes and why they were made here. Use Class A and D were removed as is B1(a) in England.
Three new use classes were introduced:-
Use Class E – Commercial, Business and Service
This use class brings together existing classes A1(shops), A2 (financial and professional services), A3 (restaurants and cafes) and B1 (business) as well as parts of classes D1 (non-residential institutions) and D2 (assembly and leisure) into one single use class to allow for changes of use without the need of planning permission. However shops and facilities with are deemed as being important to the local community have been placed into Use Class F2
Use Class F1 – Learning and non-residential institutions
This use class brings together some elements of Use Class D1 namely, schools, colleges etc., galleries, museums, public libraries, public halls or exhibition halls and churches etc.
Use Class F2 – Local community uses
This use class is designed to protect local community assets and includes shops smaller than 280m² with no other shop within a 10,000m (1km) radius, a hall or meeting place for the principal use of the local community (was use class D1), outdoor sport or recreation locations (was D2(e) use class) and swimming pools or skating rinks (was D2(e) use class)
Benefits and disadvantages to the new changes!
There are always winners and losers to any changes in any legislation and this is no exception. Some items have been been moved to sui generis that were in one use class. For example under the new use classes it will no longer be possible to move from a cinema to bingo hall or dance hall or vice versa.
Conversely you will be able to go between shops, restaurants, cafés, clinics, crèches, banks, offices, light industrial, indoor sports to another use within the new Use Class E. This will certainly give a few options. It will, for example, allow Costa (other coffee shops are available) to open cafés where previously they needed permission to convert a shop. This is all subject to any restrictive covenants or restrictions placed by previous planning permission. Note that any external changes will probably require planning permission if not permitted by GPDO.
This new class allows for a mix of uses to reflect changing retail and business models. It therefore recognises that a building may be in a number of uses concurrently or that a building may be used for different purposes at different times of the day. Changes to another use, or mix of uses, within this class do not require planning permission. Bringing these uses together and allowing movement between them will give businesses greater freedom to adapt to changing circumstances and to respond more quickly to the needs of their communities.
Table of changes
Current Use | Former Use Class | New Use Class |
Shops﹤280m² and no other ≤1,000m radius | A1 | Class F2 Local community uses |
Shops | A1 | Class E Commercial, Business and Service |
Supermarkets | ||
Post Offices | ||
Travel Agencies | ||
Sandwich Bars | ||
Hairdressers/Barbers | ||
Funeral Directors/ Undertakers | ||
Retail Warehouses (Argos etc.) | ||
Domestic Hire Shops | ||
Dry Cleaners | ||
Locations to receive items for cleaning or repair | ||
Internet Cafés | ||
Banks and Building Societies | A2 | |
Estate Agents or Employment Agencies | ||
Restaurants | A3 | |
Cafés | ||
Public Houses/Wine Bars etc. where no or little food is served Drinking Establishments with expanded food provision |
A4 |
Sui Generis In a class of their own |
Hot Food Takeaways | A5 | |
Offices | B1(a) | Class E Commercial, Business and Service |
Research and Development of products and processes | B1(b) | |
Light Industrial appropriate in a residential area | B1(c) | |
General Industrial | B2 | Class B2 (no change) |
Storage and Distribution | B8 | Class B8 (no change) |
Hotels | C1 | Class C1 (no change) |
Residential Institutions | C2 | Class C2 (no change) |
Secure Residential Institutions | C2A | Class C2A (no change) |
Houses and Flats | C3 | Class C3 (no change) |
HMOs (between 3 & 6 residents) | C4 | Class C4 (no change) |
Doctors, Clinics and Health Centres, Acupuncture Clinics etc. (except where linked to the residence of the practitioner) | D1 | Class E Commercial, Business and Service |
Crèches, Day Nurseries or Day Centres | ||
Schools | D1 | Class F1 Learning and non-residential institutions |
Galleries | ||
Museums | ||
Libraries | ||
Public Halls (except local) | ||
Churches etc. | ||
Cinemas | D2 | Sui Generis In a class of their own |
Music and Concert Halls | ||
Bingo Halls | ||
Dance Halls (not nightclubs) | ||
Gymnasiums | D2 | Class E Commercial, Business and Service |
Indoor Sports and Recreation (except where motorsports or firearms are used) | ||
Halls or Meeting Places for principal use of the local community | D2 | Class F2 Local community uses |
Swimming Pools | ||
Skating rinks | ||
Outdoor Sports and Recreation (except where motorsports or firearms are used) | ||
Theatres, Betting Offices, Payday Loan Shops, Funfairs, Large Houses in multiple occupation (seven or more), ‘Alkali Works’, Hostels providing no significant element of care, Scrap Yards, Yards for the Storage/Distribution of Minerals, Yards for the Breaking of Motor Vehicles, Fuel Stations, Shops selling and/or displaying Motor Vehicles, Retail Warehouse Clubs, Nightclubs, Launderettes, Police Stations, Taxi Businesses, Car Hire locations, Amusement Arcades and Centres, Casinos, Tattoo Parlours, Beauticians, Massage Parlours, Nail Bars, Landfill Sites, Motor Sport Arenas, Firearms Ranges |
Sui Generis | Sui Generis (no change) |
Page Updated: 19th November 2021
Planning Use Classes
Which Use Class is my building? | Changes in 2020/21 |
Class A (now defunct) | Class E |
Class B | Class F1 |
Class C | Class F2 |
Class D (now defunct) | Sui Generis |
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