Change of use planning permission in London: which changes need an application

When is change of use planning permission needed?

Section 55(1) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 treats a material change in the use of a building or land as development, and development needs permission. The Act does not define material. The government's planning guidance says it is a matter of fact and degree, decided case by case, so the use class system is a shortcut rather than a complete test.

The shortcut matters because section 55(2)(f) works in your favour. A move from one use to another within the same class is not development, and the guidance repeats the point. A move between classes generally needs permission, and so does any move to or from a use that sits in no class at all.

Two practical points follow. First, you start from the lawful use today, not the sign on the door or what the last tenant did. Second, a use class answer covers the use only. External work such as a new shopfront, rear windows or an extension is a separate question, and the Planning Portal says most external building work tied to a change of use is likely to need its own permission.

What does Class E cover, and what stays outside every class?

Since 1 September 2020, Class E has gathered uses that used to sit in separate classes. They are shops, food and drink consumed mostly on the premises, financial and professional services, indoor sport and fitness, medical services, crèches and nurseries, offices, research and light industry. Class E(g) has a test of its own. The use must be one that can run in a residential area without harm from noise, vibration, smell, fumes, smoke or dust.

Moving anywhere inside that list needs no application, which is why a high street unit can change hands between very different businesses without the council being asked. The catch is the list of uses that no class includes. Article 3(6) names, among others, pubs and drinking establishments, hot food takeaways where the food is mostly eaten off the premises, betting offices, nightclubs, cinemas, live music venues, launderettes and pay day loan shops.

A change into any of those uses normally needs a planning application, subject to narrow rights such as Class AA. A change out of one needs an application unless a permitted development right applies. For example, a hot food takeaway, betting office or pay day loan shop can move to Class E under Class A of Part 3. Pubs have a separate Class AA right, but it only moves a pub to or from a drinking establishment with expanded food provision, not to Class E. A pub that becomes a shop is not a Class E to Class E move, because the pub was never in Class E.

What can a council look at in a Class MA application?

Prior approval is narrower than a planning application. The council may consider only the matters listed in the Order. They are transport impacts and site access, contamination, flooding, and noise from nearby commercial premises. They also include natural light in every habitable room, the effect on future occupiers of introducing homes into an area the council considers important for industry, waste, storage or distribution, and the loss of a registered nursery or NHS health centre. Two more apply in some cases: the effect on a conservation area when the ground floor changes, and fire safety where the fire risk condition applies.

Neighbours get a say. The authority must either display a site notice for at least 21 days or serve notice on adjoining owners and occupiers, and it must weigh any representations it receives. That is why plans that show window sizes, room areas and the route to the front door do more work than a design statement. Our drawings page for change of use planning drawings covers the pack in detail.

Why did the Secretary of State shrink the boroughs' directions?

The 2023 letters explain the test. National policy said that Article 4 directions removing rights to change to residential use should be limited to cases where they are necessary to avoid wholly unacceptable adverse impacts. They should cover the smallest geographical area possible and rest on robust evidence. In the Waltham Forest letter the Secretary of State concluded that the direction as made did not take a sufficiently targeted approach, and in both cases the direction was modified to apply only to the mapped areas.

For an owner, the lesson is practical. A borough-wide pamphlet from 2021 is not a reliable guide. Look for the council's current modified direction and its map, then check the address against it. The Bromley letter also notes that the council may make new directions in future if further evidence justifies them, so the position can change again.

Does the 90-night rule mean a London short let needs planning permission?

In Greater London, using a home as temporary sleeping accommodation is a change of use. Section 25A of the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973 says it is not treated as a material change while two conditions are met. The total number of nights let in the calendar year must not exceed 90, counting lets by earlier providers too. And for each of those nights the person providing the accommodation must be liable for council tax on the premises.

Go past 90 nights and the exception falls away, so the use needs planning permission. Section 25B also allows a council, normally with the Secretary of State's consent, to direct that the exception does not apply to specified premises or areas where that is needed to protect local amenity. The provision came into force on 26 May 2015, and the limit is counted per calendar year, not per booking.

Short lets are not the same thing as a house in multiple occupation. A long-term shared house is judged under the HMO rules instead, which our guide to HMO planning permission in London explains.

What should you do before you commit to a change of use?

Start with the lawful use and the Article 4 map. Those two checks decide whether change of use planning permission is needed, whether a prior approval route exists, or whether a full application is the only way in. Then check the conditions on any earlier permission and plan for building control.

If you are weighing change of use planning permission for a shop, office, house or short let, send us the address and the proposal. We check the constraints and the route for free, and we draw the pack once the route is clear.