Applications, appeals, permitted development, enforcement and planning strategy across England
Planning explanations, updates and practical guidance in video form
Use Class E: commercial, business and service uses
Use Class E is the broad commercial, business and service class used in England. It includes shops, financial and professional services, restaurants and cafés, offices, research and development, suitable light industrial processes, medical and health services, crèches and day nurseries, and indoor sport or recreation.
Class E was created on 1st September 2020 by the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2020, which amended the 1987 Use Classes Order. It brought together former A1, A2, A3 and B1 uses and parts of former D1 and D2.
That change can also affect the weight given to older town-centre policies. In appeal 6011516 at 73 High Street, Ruislip, decided on 18th September 2026, the Inspector gave very limited weight to parts of Hillingdon’s 2020 shopping-frontage policies which sought tight control over use types. Without an Article 4 Direction, much of that control had been overtaken by the flexibility within Class E. The policies had not disappeared, but their pre-Class E controls carried less weight in the current planning system.
The exact statutory wording appears in the legislation section below. Our guide to the 2020 use-class changes explains where the former classes moved.
Need help with a planning application?
Planning Geek isn’t just a reference site - preparing and submitting planning applications is what we do. If you’d like a hand with an application, an appeal or any other planning matter, we’d be glad to help.
What constitutes a Use Class E property?
Use Class E brings a wide range of commercial, business and service activities into one class. A change from one Class E use to another is not development merely because the activity changes within the class. However, the wording of an existing planning permission or condition can restrict the use, and physical works may require separate planning permission. Other regulatory regimes, including licensing where relevant, can also apply.
The list below are many of the uses for Use Class E, but is not the entire list thanks to c) iii) which says ‘any other services which it is appropriate to provide in a commercial, business or service locality‘. As a result of this line, it opens several uses for Use Class E that previously were considered to be Sui Generis. Where an existing business was previously described or permitted as sui generis but its activity now appears to fall within Class E, the position should be checked carefully. The current Use Classes Order may place the activity within Class E, but the wording of any planning permission, condition or lawful development certificate can still matter. It should not simply be assumed that every historic sui generis permission has been rewritten as unrestricted Class E.
Activities such as a dance studio will come under indoor sports and recreation and therefore Use Class E as opposed to a dance hall which is a more formal setting in sui generis. Think more of a ballet and tap studio as opposed to The Blackpool Tower Ballroom!
A recent appeal APP/R5510/X/22/3290784 was confirmed by the inspectorate that a former restaurant could become a tanning salon, a use that was previously deemed as Sui Generis. This unit is now trading as an Indigo Sun branch. Similar uses should now fall under Use Class E such as massage parlours in our opinion.
The former Animal Health Trust research centre in Kentford was found by the Inspector to be one planning unit and to be Use Class E, despite it having multiple buildings and various incidental or ancillary locations on the site. You can view the appeal here. This found that the educational facilities were ancillary to the main use.
West Suffolk Council challenged that decision in West Suffolk Council v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities & Ors [2025] EWHC 861 (Admin). Mrs Justice Lang dismissed the challenge. On Class E(e), she held that “visiting members of the public” is a straightforward expression to be applied to the facts of each case. A person does not cease to be a member of the public simply because an appointment, registration or referral is required before attending.
The court also rejected the suggestion that Class E(e) requires a walk-in service or a site in a shopping or commercial area. Specialist services provided following referral can still be provided principally to visiting members of the public.
On Class E(g)(ii), the court held that the research or development must concern products or processes. The words “research and development” can operate jointly or separately, so the class can cover research, development, or both, provided the subject matter is products or processes. On the evidence at Kentford, the Inspector was entitled to find the Animal Health Trust activities within Class E(g)(ii).
The useful lesson from West Suffolk is therefore about how the wording of Class E is interpreted, not that every clinical or research facility automatically falls within Class E. The planning unit, the primary and ancillary uses, and the evidence about the activities actually carried on remain critical.
Our guide to dog cafe planning permission applies those questions to cafes, pet shops, grooming, play areas and daycare. Adding dog services does not automatically mean that the entire operation is Class E.
Moving between one Use Class E use and another
The Use Class Order specifies that a change of use within the same use Class is not to be taken to involve development of land. Its effect is to specify that a change of use from an old use to a new use, which both fall within the same Class is not development.
Class E also provides that “use, or part use” for any of those purposes falls within the Class. The PPG says ‘Movement from one primary use to another within the same use class is not development, and does not require planning permission. The Commercial, Business and Service use class provides for use, or part use, for all or any of the purposes set out in that Class.’
Does an artist studio fall within Use Class E?
An artist studio can fall within Class E(g)(iii) where its primary activity is making artwork as a trade or business and the use meets the Class E(g) amenity test. Article 2 of the Use Classes Order defines an industrial process to include making an article or part of an article. That definition can cover creative production as well as familiar manufacturing activities.
In appeal APP/V5570/X/25/3360983, decided on 16th September 2026, the Inspector certified the artist studio use at the Church Of The Most Holy Saviour in Islington as Class E. The application had relied on research and development under E(g)(ii), but the Inspector regarded making artwork as an industrial process compatible with E(g)(iii). An annual open day displaying the artwork did not change the primary studio use.
That finding does not make every premises called an artist studio Class E. Identify what is actually done there and whether the use can be carried out in any residential area without detriment from noise, vibration, smell, fumes, smoke, soot, ash, dust or grit. Teaching, display and retail activities may need a different analysis. A gallery displaying art otherwise than for sale or hire is specifically covered by Class F1(b).
Industrial processes in residential locations
The old B1(c) is now E(g)(iii) – any industrial process, being a use, which can be carried out in any residential area without detriment to the amenity of that area by reason of noise, vibration, smell, fumes, smoke, soot, ash, dust or grit.
In a recent appeal for a Micro-brewery (or nano-brewery) to operate within Use Class E, the inspector said ‘The Use Classes are a ‘permissive’ system of classification, to enable similar uses to move between classes or be used such as by permitted development etc. It is not a planning judgement on the individual case and location. Class E(g)(iii) notes it is ‘a’ use which can be carried out in ‘any’ residential area without detriment to amenity (my highlight). It is not referring to ‘the’ use or ‘the’ residential area. If such a judgement were necessary on the individual use or location that would effectively be a planning judgement appropriate for an application.’
He went on to say ‘To my mind a micro-brewery, even a small one, is a use that could have serious emissions of fumes from the processes involved that could have a considerable impact on the amenity of neighbours in a residential area, and its classification in Use Class B2 and not E(g)(iii) is correct.’
Therefore it is important with any industrial process to ensure that it can operate in any residential area – not just the one applied. There may be a big difference between a rural and urban setting.
Permitted Development Changes for Use Class E
There are several permitted development rights to go from or to Use Class E from/to other use classes.
From another use to Use Class E:
Class A – Sui Generis (Casino, Betting Office, Payday Loan Shop, Hot Food Takeaway) to Use Class E
Class R – Sui Generis (agricultural building) to Flexible commercial use (Including Use Class E)
Class D – Betting Office, Payday Loan Shop, Hot Food Takeaway to Use Class E for a period of up to 3 years up to 150m2
From Use Class E to another use:
Class G – one or two flats (C3) above Use Class E, Payday Loan Shop, Betting Office
Class MA – Use Class E to C3
Class T – Use Class E to State Funded School
Class D – Use Class E to Betting Office, Payday Loan Shop, Hot Food Takeaway for a period of up to 3 years up to 150m2
Class C – Use Class E to State Funded School for up to two years.
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.
Permitted development rights
Just because a property is within Use Class E, it doesn’t mean that it does not have permitted development rights.
Part 7 of the GPDO contains various permitted development rights for shops, offices, GPs, Cafés, restaurants etc.
These include extensions and other alterations under Class A, hard surfaces in Class E, Click and collect under Class C etc.
The ability to make alterations such as new windows and doors, could well be very useful – as could extensions of up to 50% in size. However there are various limitations, such as not involving a shop front. Check out Class A, if this is of use.
If you need clarification or advise, please consider booking a Zoom call with Ian, the founder of Planning Geek to discuss your individual situation.
Examples for Use Class E
According to the Planning Geek directory of uses, Use Class E includes Aesthetic Clinic, Artist Studio (where the activity and amenity test fit), Banks, Barbers, Bookshop, Building Societies, Butchers, Cafés, Car Servicing, Chemist, Clinics, Clothes Shop, Crèches, Day Nurseries, Dentists, Dessert Shop, DIY Shed, Doctors, Dry Cleaners, Employment Agencies, Estate Agencies, Fish & Chip Restaurant, Funeral Directors, GP, Greengrocers, Gyms, Hairdressers, Health Centres, Health Clinic, Hire Shops, Indoor Sports & Recreation, Industrial Processes in a residential area without causing detriment to the amenity of the area, Internet Cafes, Jobcentre, Light Industrial, Music Studio, Non-retail Photographic Studio, Offices, Osteopath, Pet Shops, Pharmacy, Phone Shop, Photographic Studio, Police Offices, Post Offices, Printers (small), Professional Services, Recording Studios, Research & Development, Restaurant, Retail Warehouses, Saddlery, Sale of cold food for consumption off premises, Sandwich Shop, Shoe Shop, Shops (except some local under Use Class F2), Snooker Hall, Solicitors, Ticket Agencies, Tourist Information, Travel Agencies, Veterinary Practice (Vets), Beauty Salons*, Dog Grooming Parlour*, Massage Parlour*, Nail Bar*, Sunbed Salon*, Tanning Salon*, Tattoo Parlours*
* Traditionally we have considered tattoo parlours or beauty salons to be sui generis, but the new wording in Use Class E says ‘any other services which it is appropriate to provide in a commercial, business or service locality’ which in our opinion brings several other local uses into Use Class E. You might however find that the local authority doesn’t agree. We hope they do.
Use Class E Legislation
Use Class E – Commercial, Business and Service –
Use, or part use, for all or any of the following purposes—
a) for the display or retail sale of goods, other than hot food, principally to visiting members of the public,
b) for the sale of food and drink principally to visiting members of the public where consumption of that food and drink is mostly undertaken on the premises,
c) for the provision of the following kinds of services principally to visiting members of the public—
(i) financial services,
(ii) professional services (other than health or medical services), or
(iii) any other services which it is appropriate to provide in a commercial, business or service locality,
d) for indoor sport, recreation or fitness, not involving motorised vehicles or firearms or use as a swimming pool or skating rink, principally to visiting members of the public,
e) for the provision of medical or health services, principally to visiting members of the public, except the use of premises attached to the residence of the consultant or practitioner,
f) for a creche, day nursery or day centre, not including a residential use, principally to visiting members of the public,
g) for—
(i) an office to carry out any operational or administrative functions,
(ii) the research and development of products or processes, or
(iii) any industrial process, being a use, which can be carried out in any residential area without detriment to the amenity of that area by reason of noise, vibration, smell, fumes, smoke, soot, ash, dust or grit.
A planning unit containing more than one activity is not automatically sui generis. The first questions are whether there is a single planning unit and whether any secondary activity is ancillary to the primary use. A genuine composite mixed use can fall outside the defined use classes. The Use Classes Order also expressly allows a Class E(g) use together with B2 use where the section allocated to B2 is not substantially increased.
If you need further help!
Planning Geek is well positioned to give help and advice on Use Class E. Often this might require a more formal approach to the local authority.
If we can help, please get in touch. We are here to help.
Or book a Zoom call with Ian, the founder of Planning Geek to discuss your individual situation.
Explore the Use Classes section
Use Classes Home · Use Classes Index · Use Classes Directory
Use Class E Page Updated: 22nd September 2026