UK Planning Use Classes — Complete Guide
The Use Classes Order groups buildings and land by type of use. Changes within some classes are permitted development — changes between others require planning permission. Here is a complete guide to the current UK use classes, updated following the September 2020 reforms.
2020 Use Classes Reforms
In September 2020, the government significantly reformed the Use Classes Order. The old A1 (shops), A2 (financial services), A3 (restaurants), A4 (pubs) and B1 (offices) classes were abolished. A new Class E was created, grouping commercial, business, and service uses together. Pubs and betting shops became sui generis. The D1 and D2 classes were replaced by F.1, F.2, and sui generis.
Commercial, Business and Service
Class E is a broad commercial category introduced in 2020, consolidating what were previously separate use classes (A1, A2, A3, B1). It covers shops, financial services, cafés, restaurants (not takeaways), offices, light industrial, gyms, health centres, and crèches. The consolidation allows flexible switching between these uses without planning permission.
Learning and Non-Residential Institutions
Class F.1 covers non-residential institutions providing education, training, or community facilities. This includes schools, colleges, museums, public libraries, art galleries, exhibition halls, law courts, and places of worship.
Local Community Use
Class F.2 was introduced to protect local community facilities. It covers local shops serving areas with limited access to retail, outdoor sport or recreation facilities not for profit, indoor swimming baths, skating rinks, and areas of land for outdoor sport open to the public.
Hotels
Class C1 covers hotels, boarding houses, and guest houses where care is not provided — i.e. where accommodation is provided for paying guests without personal care. This distinguishes hotels and B&Bs from care homes (Class C2) and residential care facilities.
Residential Institutions
Class C2 covers residential institutions providing care, including care homes, hospitals, nursing homes, boarding schools, residential colleges, and training centres. The distinction from Class C3 is that personal care is provided as part of the residential use.
Dwellinghouses
Class C3 is one of the most important use classes — it covers ordinary dwellinghouses used by a single person or family, or by up to six people living together as a single household. This is the standard residential use class for houses and flats.
Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs)
Class C4 covers small houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) — properties occupied by between three and six unrelated people who share facilities such as kitchens and bathrooms. Larger HMOs (7 or more occupants) are sui generis and fall outside the use classes.
General Industrial
Class B2 covers general industrial uses — manufacturing and processing activities that cannot be carried out within Class E (light industrial) because they would cause nuisance to nearby uses through noise, smell, fumes, vibration, or other impacts.
Storage and Distribution
Class B8 covers uses for storage and distribution, including warehouses, logistics centres, distribution centres, and open storage yards. It is a major category used by the e-commerce, retail, and logistics sectors.
Secure Residential Institutions
Class C2A covers secure residential institutions where individuals are detained — primarily prisons, young offender institutions, immigration removal centres, and secure psychiatric hospitals. It was created as a distinct use class to reflect the very different planning, security, and community considerations that apply compared to ordinary residential institutions (C2). New C2A facilities are typically major applications requiring detailed assessment.
Hot Food Takeaway
Hot food takeaways are Sui Generis uses — they fall outside any use class and always require full planning permission for a new opening or any change of use. Councils carefully assess their impact on health, residential amenity, litter, and odours. Many local plans contain policies restricting new takeaways within a set distance of schools or in areas with an existing concentration of such uses.
Pub and Drinking Establishment
Pubs, wine bars, and other drinking establishments are Sui Generis uses following the September 2020 planning reforms. They were formerly in Class A4. Their Sui Generis status means planning permission is required for any new pub or any change of use to or from a pub, giving communities and planning authorities greater ability to resist the loss of pubs as social assets. Many pubs are also listed as Assets of Community Value (ACVs) under the Localism Act 2011.
Casino, Betting Shop and Amusement Arcade
Casinos, betting shops, and amusement arcades are Sui Generis uses, meaning any new establishment or change of use requires full planning permission. Betting shops were removed from the former Class A2 to allow greater planning scrutiny of their impact on high streets and vulnerable communities. Planning authorities apply cumulative impact policies — considering the combined effect of multiple gambling premises in one area — when assessing applications.
Theatre, Cinema and Concert Hall
Theatres, cinemas, and concert halls are Sui Generis uses following the 2020 planning reforms that abolished the former Class D2. Any new development or change of use requires full planning permission. Planning authorities are generally reluctant to permit the loss of cultural venues, and many apply specific protection policies requiring evidence that a venue has been marketed and is no longer viable before approving redevelopment.
Petrol Filling Station
Petrol filling stations are Sui Generis uses, meaning any new petrol station or change of use to or from a petrol station requires full planning permission. Planning authorities consider road safety, vehicle movements, the local road network, and proximity to sensitive uses. Petrol stations often include ancillary retail and car wash facilities assessed as part of the planning application. Former petrol station sites require contaminated land investigation due to underground fuel tanks.
Sui Generis
"Sui generis" is Latin for "of its own kind". These uses do not fall within any use class and therefore any change of use to or from a sui generis use requires express planning permission. Common sui generis uses include takeaways, pubs, casinos, petrol stations, and large HMOs.
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