Significant changes to existing permitted development rights have come into force on 5th March 2024, in particular, removing two key qualifications under Class MA, which allows the change of use from Class E (commercial, business and service uses) to Class C3 (residential use). This will significantly increase the number of sites which will now be able to benefit from this permitted development right.
Class MA itself was introduced in 2021 and permits the change of use of buildings from commercial to residential, subject to prior approval from the local planning authority (on a limited scope of planning issues, in particular transport, contamination, flooding, noise and light) and provided it complied with various restrictions (most notably that the building must have been in Class E use for a continuous period of at least two years before the use can change and may not be a listed building, or located in an AONB, SSSI or National Park).
Two further restrictions were that the building in question was subject to a 1,500 sqm maximum floorspace limit for the change of use and secondly that the building must have been vacant for a continuous period of at least 3 months immediately prior to the date of an application for prior approval. The changes remove both these requirements, which means that Class MA will now apply to in-use buildings and with no floor space limit. It is worth remembering that Class MA does not impose any affordable housing requirements (although such conversions are subject to prescribed internal room space standards). Such changes of use under permitted development rights also afford the opportunity to deduct in-use floorspace against any CIL liability, although this is a technical area beyond the remit of this article on which Fladgate can advise further.
In the wider context, the government clearly wants to enable developers to deliver greater numbers of homes, but it should also be noted that any incoming Labour government has previously stated their intention to revoke Class MA entirely, so there may be limited time to act. In addition, Councils can and have brought in Article 4 Directions (whether actual or impending) which remove certain permitted development rights, including Class MA, so this must always be checked first as a priority.
