Permitted Uses.

You will need to consider what your property will be used for. When you agree a lease the landlord grants you permission to use the property for the specific uses you have agreed between you. You should make sure that this permission includes not only the uses you will immediately want but those you might require in the future. Depending on the property, in the majority of cases there will be some uses a landlord will not be willing to agree to.

In addition to agreeing the use of the property with the landlord, you may require planning permission for your intended use. All uses are categorised into classifications such as B1, B2 and B8.

If you provide the local council details of the properties you are interested in, they will tell you which classifications each property has permissions for at that time.

In many cases you can get this information from the landlord, but you should confirm it with the council before committing to a lease on any property.

Changing Use.

If a property does not have any permission for the uses you wish to put it to, it may be possible to change the current permissions to include those uses.

If you tell the local council the type of business you operate and what you will use the property for, they will tell you what type of classification your business falls into. The local council will charge to change the use of a property, you should enquire how much this charge will be and whether your intended use is likely to be acceptable, before applying for a change of use.

In addition to the classifications associated with planning permission there may be other restrictions placed on the use of the property, it is recommended that you find out details of current planning permissions before committing yourself to a property.

A list of uses and their classifications is available for download from our Forms page.