Development Management:

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1 THE PlanningPACK 2012 SHEET 11 Development Management: Small Business and the Planning System DISCLAIMER: Produced by Planning Aid England - Published by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) (c) All rights reserved. Planning Aid is part of the Royal Town Planning Institute, Registered Charity in England and Wales Number Head Office: Royal Town Planning Institute, 41 Botolph Lane, London, EC3R 8DL. The Planning Pack is not a statement of the law. The Institute and Planning Aid England permits persons using this Planning Pack for the furtherance of effective public participation in the town and country planning system to make copies of the Planning Pack Sheets included, as long as they in no way commercially or financially benefit from making such copies. With this exception no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical without prior permission in writing from the publisher. While every effort has been taken to check the accuracy of the information in this Planning Pack, the RTPI or Planning Aid England cannot be held liable for any financial loss resulting from the professional advice contained herein. Readers are advised to seek advice from their local planning authority and/or a professional planning consultant, or specialist planning lawyer before proceeding on any matter. This is Sheet 11 of The Planning Pack. This pack has been written by Planning Aid, and is endorsed by the Royal Town Planning Institute. This sheet provides a brief introduction to the planning system for small businesses. It aims to help owners of small businesses, for example shop owners, farmers, hoteliers, garages, taxi services understand the system a little better. For example, what should you consider when starting up and looking for suitable premises, when expanding or moving to a new location, when looking to diversify and change the use of existing buildings and land to a new use. Changing the use of premises Most uses of land and buildings fall within a use class or category (for example retail, housing, business) for the purposes of town planning legislation known as The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (as amended). This order puts uses of land and buildings into various categories defining the types of uses within each class. Planning permission is not normally needed to change from one use within a use class to another use within the same use class. This is not development and therefore does not require planning permission. For example a pet shop (falls within Class A1) could be changed to a shoe shop (falls within Class A1) without permission as these uses fall within the same use class. To change between different Use Classes is development in some instances for example a change of use from a Bookshop (Class A1) to a restaurant (Class A3) would be development and would require planning permission. The following table has been compiled to help you to decide whether you need planning permission. Please note that the table is a summary of all the use classes and you should seek specific advice before carrying out any works. Please note that most external building work or new advertising associated with a change of use is likely to require planning permission/ advertisement consent.

2 USE ClASS ORDER 1987 (AS AMENDED) DESCRIPTION PERMITTED CHANGE A1 Shops A2 Financial and Professional Service Shops, retail warehouses, hairdressers, undertakers, travel and ticket agencies, post offices, pet shops, sandwich bars, showrooms, domestic hire shops, funeral directors etc. Banks, building societies, estate and employment agencies, professional and financial services, betting offices. except to mixed use as a shop and single flat (see note 1) and vice versa. Permitted change to A1where a ground floor display window exists. Also as above to a mixed use as a single flat and A2 use and vice versa (see note 1). A3 Restaraunts and Cafes Restaurants, snack bars, cafes Permitted change to A1 or A2. A4 Drinking Establishments Pubs and bars Permitted change to A1, A2, A3 A5 Hot food takeaways Hot food takeaways Permitted change to A1, A2, A3 B1 Business (a) Offices, not within A2 Permitted change to B8 where no B1 Business (b) Offices, not within A2 Permitted change to B8 where no B1 Business (c) Light Industry Permitted change to B8 where no B2 General Industry General industry Permitted change to B1 or B8. B8 where no B8 Storage or Distribution Wholesale warehouses, repositories Permitted change to B1 where no C1 Hotels Hotels, boarding and guest houses C2 residential Institutions C2a* C3 Dwellinghouse Residential schools and colleges, hospitals and convalescent/nursing homes Use for a provision of secure residential accommodation, including use as a prison, young offenders institution, detention centre, short term holding centre, secure hospital, secure local authority accommodation or use as military barracks Use as a dwelling house whether or not as a sole or main residence by: a) A single person, or by people forming a single household; b) Not more than 6 residents living together as a single household where care is provided for residents: or c) Not more than 6 residents living together as a single household where no care is provided (other than a use within C4) 2 Permitted change to C4

3 USE ClASS ORDER 1987 (AS AMENDED) C4 Houses in multiple occupation D1 Non-residential Institutions D2 Assembly and leisure Sui Generis (see note 4) DESCRIPTION Use of a dwellinghouse by not more than 6 residents as a house of multiple occupation (see note 2) Places of worship, church halls, clinics, health centres, crèches, day nurseries, consulting rooms, museums, public halls, libraries, art galleries, exhibition halls, law court, Non residential education and training centres Cinemas, music and concert halls, dance, sports halls, baths, skating rinks, gymnasiums. Other indoor and outdoor sports and leisure uses, bingo halls Theatres, houses in multiple paying occupations, hostels providing no significant element of care, scrap yards. Petrol filling stations and shops selling and/or displaying motor vehicles. Retail warehouse clubs, nightclubs, laundrettes, dry cleaners, taxi businesses, amusement centres Casinos PERMITTED CHANGE Permitted change to C3 (see note 3) Permitted change from Sui Generis to D2 Please note that this table is a summary of the use classes and you should seek specific advice before carrying out any work 1. Any operational development, such as affecting external appearance would, require consent. Ground floor rooms with a shop window would need consent to change the whole or part of the ground floor for use as a single flat. For further explanation see Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 (as Amended). 2. Definition of a House in Multiple Occupation as in section 254 of the Housing Act Broadly when tenanted living accommodation is occupied as an only or main residence, where the occupiers are not related and share one or more basic amenity. 3. In some instances an article 4 direction removing this PD may be in place. Need to check with LPA. 4. Sui Generis is a use not within a specific class and there are no permitted development rights to change between sui generis uses of from sui generis to a use class or visa-versa. Adapted from the Use Classes Table produced by Birmingham City Council. Before you lease or buy a property, it is advisable to talk to your local planning authority to discuss whether you need to obtain planning permission for your intended use. If you need permission find out your chances of obtaining permission. Another option could be to get legal advice regarding drafting an option to buy offer, conditional on obtaining necessary planning consent. These are used quite frequently when a purchaser wants to show willing but will only commit when the intended use/development is granted permission. 3

4 Extending or altering existing premises Certain classes of use namely office buildings, shops, financial or professional service establishments, industrial and warehouse developments may be extended or altered without planning permission. This would be subject to meeting certain restrictions and constraints as outlined in the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995, as amended, which imposes limits on the scale and height and restrictions on the proximity of the extension to the boundary of the site. Permitted development is not applicable within the curtilage of a listed building. Further information is provided in the technical guidance produced by the Department for Communities and Local Government (refer to Sheet 16 for link) It is advisable to check with the relevant local planning authority if permitted development rights would apply or whether they have been removed as a condition on a previous application/ as a result of an Article 4 direction. Other restrictions may apply (such as restrictive covenants) most of which are recorded in the local land charges register. Building new premises The building of new premises nearly always needs planning permission, however for industrial and warehouse developments the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order as amended permits additional buildings to be erected within the curtilage of an existing use. As above this is subject to a number of restrictions and conditions regarding limits on the scale, height and proximity to the boundary. It is advisable that advice is sought on the precise extent of these permitted development rights before making any firm proposals or commitments to leasing or purchasing the property. Agricultural Uses There are a variety of permitted development rights available to farmers in using land for agriculture (and forestry) depending on the size of a land holding. These permitted development rights do not include any residential properties but apply to operational buildings. Further information is available in A Farmer s Guide to the Planning System - refer to Sheet 16 for a link to this document. Prior notification As discussed at Sheet 6 some developments as those relating to agricultural development require prior approval. There is a legal requirement for you to give 28 days notice to the local planning authority of the intent to carry out certain works on agricultural or forestry land. A prior notification application is required to be submitted to the local planning authority for the following type of development: F The erection, extension or alteration relating to agricultural units of 5 hectares or more: i) building, significant extension or significant alteration of a building ii) formation or alteration of a private way iii) carrying out of certain excavations and waste disposal iv) placing or assembly of a tank or cage for use in fish farming in any waters F on forestry land to (i) and (ii) above F proposed road F proposed excavation/deposit of waste F building a fish tank The building of new premises nearly always needs an application for planning permission. In rural areas, farm building conversions, holiday accommodation and stabling for non agricultural working horses (riding or breeding) are typical of the types of business diversification proposals which come forward and which would generally require planning permission and you should consult with your local planning authority before commencing any projects. 4

5 Running a business from home Running a business from home does not always require planning permission. All sorts of part time and occasional occupations can be carried out from your home whether it involves using part of your home as a complementary therapist, personal office or providing a child minding service the key test is whether the overall/ primary character of the dwelling will change i.e. the overall use of the dwelling as a private residence is affected by the business use and whether the use will have a significant impact upon your neighbours amenity. Unfortunately there is no simple test to identify when planning permission is required; it is a matter of fact and degree. The main factors that will generally be considered in assessing the change in character are as follows: F Will your home no longer be used as a private residence? How many rooms do you have in your dwelling and how many will be used for the business? F Have you physically altered your home to accommodate the business? F How many people are employed by the business and how many work from your home? F Will your business result in a marked increase in traffic or people visiting your dwelling in connection to the business? F Do you advertise your business? If yes, where and how often? F Will your business involve any activities unusual in a residential area? F Will your business disturb your neighbours at unreasonable hours or create other forms of nuisance such as noise or smells or other disturbances? These questions above are very general and it is dependent on the exact nature of your business and how you operate. Before commencing a business from your home you should always check with your local planning authority whether or not you require planning permission. lodgers and Bedsits Notwithstanding the need to apply for planning permission where an Article 4 direction withdraws the permitted development right that normally applies to change of use between dwelling house and small House in Multiple Occupation (HMO), planning permission is not needed to rent rooms out to lodgers, providing that the total number of persons living in the house is no more than six and the occupants live together communally as one household, sharing cooking and washing facilities. If you are changing the use of a house to self contained flats, bed sitting rooms, bed and breakfast or a guest house you are likely to require planning permission and should always check with your local planning authority before commencing the use. Equally residential development brought forward under permitted development must be incidental to the use of the dwellinghouse. Although the Courts have held that this applies to living accommodation if such development would become a separate planning unit it would be in breach of planning control, i.e. it is not possible to use permitted development rights to erect structures that are then used in an unrelated manner to the dwelling (i.e. through renting out for business purposes). Certificate of lawful development If you are uncertain whether your proposal requires consent you can apply for a Certificate of lawful Existing Use or Development. An application for a Certificate of lawful Existing Use or Development can be made if you wish to establish that an existing building or land use is lawful and is therefore immune from enforcement action. Usually this applies to buildings and uses which have not been granted planning permission. For operational development including buildings, the applicant must be able to prove that the structure had been substantially completed at least 4 years prior to the date of application; for most material changes in the use of land the applicant must be able to prove that the material change of use has continued uninterrupted for at least 10 years prior to the date of application. However for the use as a dwelling house, the applicant must be able to prove that the material change of use has continued uninterrupted for at least 4 years prior to the date of application. Such certificates can be reassuring for prospective purchases or for banks to prove that no action will be taken by the council. 5