Planning use classes question

[Ed262]

Hi we have a site out of the way built to a high standard with many spaces for small businesses. We are classed as B1c & B8.

We have music studios, private 1 on 1 dance studios and kitchens that sell to other commercial kitchens wanting to join.

There seem to be so many grey areas in the use classes, seems to me that this would be down to each council to decide and if deemed not acceptable at that time we could apply for change?

Is there any visiablity on how likely this is to be an issue for the council?

[Equus]

Ed262 said:

We are classed as B1c & B8.

Not any more, you're not.

First thing to be aware of is that Boris the Clown has been fking about with the Use Classes order: Classes A, B1 and D1 are no more, and have been replaced, as of beginning of this month, with Class E (commercial, business and services) and Classes F.1 and F.2 (learning and non-residential institutions and local community), with a few specific uses being shifted to Sui Generis.

LINK

The second thing to be aware of is that Local Planning Authorities use something called the Land Use Gazetteer - a telephone-directory-like document (it comes in three volumes!) that lists every conceivable land use you can think of, and categorises it against Planning Use Class. Notwithstanding the fact that Boris has just screwed it all up, this is what they'd refer to for a view on whether any specific activity represented a Change of Use.

The Land Use Gazetteer means that there really aren't the grey areas that you might think there are: your LPA should be able to give you a clear view on what's what.

I'd say that the specific uses you have mentioned should all fall within the new Class E, though.