Planning reforms to Use Classes and permitted development rights in England stand

The High Court on the 17 November handed down its judgment following a judicial review claim brought by Rights: Community: Action, challenging the lawfulness of the three statutory instruments that introduced the changes in September.

The High Court dismissed the challenge on all three grounds and therefore the changes remain good law and good news for developers and landlords alike.

The principle change to the Use Class Order is the introduction of a new Class E, encompassing most commercial and retail uses which were formally split into Class A, B1 and part of class D. The rest of the former Class D uses are now in new Class F, with some uses moving to sui generis.

New permitted development rights include the ability to add up to 2 extra storeys to residential premises, including blocks of flats; and rights to demolish vacant purpose built apartment blocks or commercial and industrial premises and rebuild new apartment blocks on the same footprint and subject to a prior approval process.

For further details or enquiries on the topic, please contact Sophie Stewart.