Change of business building class - shop to cafe?
Discussion
Good Evening,
As always, I turn to the fountain of knowledge on piston heads to seek advice.
A premises that I have had my eye on for a few years, has now become available and I have been contacted by the owner to see if I am still interested.
The premises are currently located centrally in a large village that is ever growing with large new build estates.The building is currently a store selling furniture (which I believe to be class 1) and I would be looking at changing it to a cafe (class 3?).
Does anyone have any experience of acquiring this license? Is it difficult to come by? I would only want to proceed if this license can be obtained? There will be no alcohol sold on the premises at any time and opening hours would be between 9am - 5pm.
I will also require a pavement license (for outside seating) if anyone has any experience of applying for this?
The premises are located in the East Riding of Yorkshire if the planning applications varies on districts.
Thanks in advance, any help or advice much appreciated.
As always, I turn to the fountain of knowledge on piston heads to seek advice.
A premises that I have had my eye on for a few years, has now become available and I have been contacted by the owner to see if I am still interested.
The premises are currently located centrally in a large village that is ever growing with large new build estates.The building is currently a store selling furniture (which I believe to be class 1) and I would be looking at changing it to a cafe (class 3?).
Does anyone have any experience of acquiring this license? Is it difficult to come by? I would only want to proceed if this license can be obtained? There will be no alcohol sold on the premises at any time and opening hours would be between 9am - 5pm.
I will also require a pavement license (for outside seating) if anyone has any experience of applying for this?
The premises are located in the East Riding of Yorkshire if the planning applications varies on districts.
Thanks in advance, any help or advice much appreciated.
Hi George,
A general retail use falls under Use Class A1 as you rightly say.
If the cafe is a sit down format then it would need a Change of Use to Use Class A3.
If providing a Take Away service this might shift to Use Class A5, but Take Away would need to be the predominant use.
There are some cafe operators that do get away with operating under A1 consent, but it does depend on the specifics of your use.
In relation to the licencing for outside space, this will depend in part on whether this is within the demise of the property or on the public realm. You would usually require local authority licencing for the latter. You may not need it for the former.
It would be worth a conversation with your local authority as one of the planning officers might be available to advise whether you would need consent or not. The Planning Portal is also worth a look.
Something to bear in mind would be Extraction - this is often a stumbling block when dealing with Cafe's. Especially if the building is Listed or in a Conservation Area. It can also be a challenge for neighbours etc as extractor flues are rarely attractive.
Generally things to think about would be noise, fumes, parking etc as these would be the usual things for neighbours to complain about.
A general retail use falls under Use Class A1 as you rightly say.
If the cafe is a sit down format then it would need a Change of Use to Use Class A3.
If providing a Take Away service this might shift to Use Class A5, but Take Away would need to be the predominant use.
There are some cafe operators that do get away with operating under A1 consent, but it does depend on the specifics of your use.
In relation to the licencing for outside space, this will depend in part on whether this is within the demise of the property or on the public realm. You would usually require local authority licencing for the latter. You may not need it for the former.
It would be worth a conversation with your local authority as one of the planning officers might be available to advise whether you would need consent or not. The Planning Portal is also worth a look.
Something to bear in mind would be Extraction - this is often a stumbling block when dealing with Cafe's. Especially if the building is Listed or in a Conservation Area. It can also be a challenge for neighbours etc as extractor flues are rarely attractive.
Generally things to think about would be noise, fumes, parking etc as these would be the usual things for neighbours to complain about.
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