Class E is the use class the 2020 changes to the Use Classes Order created in England for commercial, business and service uses: shops, cafes and restaurants, financial and professional services, offices, clinics and health centres, creches and nurseries, indoor sport and recreation, and light industrial uses that can sit in a residential area. Class e planning, as an applicant meets it, is mostly the news that a change between any of those uses is a change within a class and needs no application, which is why e class commercial property is let and sold on that basis; the office use class the older order knew as B1(a) is now part of it. This page sets out what class E covers, what it merged, and what it means for a change of use on a class E commercial property.
What class E covers
Class E has parts, lettered a to g in the order: retail sale of goods, the sale of food and drink for consumption on the premises, financial and professional services, indoor sport and recreation, medical and health services, creches and nurseries, and offices, research and light industrial processes that can be carried on in a residential area without detriment. A use in any part may change to a use in any other part without an application, because the change is within the class. The text of the order cited below is the authority for what each part says.
What class E merged, and what it did not
Class E absorbed the old classes A1 (shops), A2 (financial and professional services), A3 (restaurants and cafes), B1 (business, including offices and light industry) and parts of D1 (clinics and nurseries) and D2 (indoor sport). It did not absorb pubs and bars, hot food takeaways, cinemas or nightclubs, which the 2020 changes made sui generis, nor learning and community uses, which went to classes F1 and F2. An applicant reading an older permission or lease that names A1 or B1 reads it across to class E, and the guide on the older classes on this site sets out the mapping.
What class E means for a change of use, and for the file
A change of use from a shop to a cafe, an office to a clinic or a gym to a shop needs no application in England, subject to any condition on the premises' permission restricting its use and to building regulations, licensing and the lease, which are separate questions. A change from class E to a dwelling is not within the class but may fall under the class MA permitted development route with prior approval, and a change to a pub or a takeaway needs a full application. Consentvia Pro keeps each premises' lawful use and its class against the site, with the conditions that restrict it, which is the record the next change is read from.
Questions people ask about class e
Can an office become a shop without planning permission?
In England, yes: offices and shops are both in class E, so the change is within the class. A condition on the office's permission restricting its use, or a lease, may still prevent it, and those are separate questions.
Is a gym in class E?
Indoor sport, recreation and fitness are in class E in England, so a gym may change to a shop or an office and back without an application. Outdoor sport is not.
Does class E apply in Wales?
No. Wales kept the earlier lettered classes, so the same change in Wales is read against A1, A2, A3, B1 and D1 and D2. The guide on the older classes on this site sets them out.
Sources
- legislation.gov.uk, The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 as amended: the classes and what each covers
- GOV.UK planning practice guidance, When is permission required: development, change of use and the use classes
- GOV.UK planning practice guidance, Flexible options for planning permission: section 73 variations, outline and reserved matters, non-material amendments