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Use Class changes in 2020: Classes E, F1 and F2
On 20th July 2020 the Government made the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2020. They were laid before Parliament on 21st July 2020 and came into force on 1st September 2020. This was not a replacement Use Classes Order: it amended the 1987 Order.
The Regulations revoked former Part A, former Part D and Class B1 in England, while creating Classes E, F1 and F2. The official Explanatory Memorandum describes the purpose of the changes.
The new Classes E, F1 and F2
Three new use classes were introduced by the 2020 changes:
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 which 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
Class F2 includes a shop of no more than 280m² selling mainly essential goods, where there is no other such facility within 1,000 metres; a hall or meeting place used principally by the local community; areas or places for outdoor sport or recreation not involving motorised vehicles or firearms; and swimming pools or skating rinks.
Benefits and disadvantages to the use class changes!
The 2020 changes created both greater flexibility and some new boundaries. Several uses which had previously sat within a use class became sui generis. Cinemas, bingo halls and dance halls, for example, are now separate sui generis uses, so a change between them is not protected merely by being within the same use class.
Conversely, shops, restaurants, cafés, clinics, crèches, banks, offices, light industrial uses and many indoor sport or fitness uses can now sit within Use Class E. Moving between activities that genuinely remain within Class E is not development merely because the activity changes. The wording of any existing permission or planning condition still needs checking, and physical alterations may require separate permission or permitted development rights.
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.
Use Class Changes – Table of changes
| Current Use | Former Use Class | New Use Class |
| Local shop of no more than 280m² selling mainly essential goods, with no other such facility within 1,000 metres | A1 | Use Class F2 Local community uses |
| Shops | A1 | Use 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) | Use 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 | Use Class B2 (no change) |
| Storage and Distribution | B8 | Use Class B8 (no change) |
| Hotels | C1 | Use Class C1 (no change) |
| Residential Institutions | C2 | Use Class C2 (no change) |
| Secure Residential Institutions | C2A | Use Class C2A (no change) |
| Houses and Flats | C3 | Use Class C3 (no change) |
| HMOs (between 3 & 6 residents) | C4 | Use Class C4 (no change) |
| Doctors, Clinics and Health Centres, Acupuncture Clinics etc. (except where linked to the residence of the practitioner) | D1 | Use Class E Commercial, Business and Service |
| Crèches, Day Nurseries or Day Centres | ||
| Schools | D1 | Use 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 | Use 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 | Use 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, Landfill Sites, Motor Sport Arenas and Firearms Ranges Some service uses formerly described as sui generis, such as tattoo, beauty or massage premises, may now fall within Class E depending on the actual activity and planning history. |
Sui Generis | Sui Generis (no change) |
Use Class Changes Page Updated: 24th August 2026
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