When you are looking to rent or buying a commercial property, one of the most important factors to consider is that building’s ‘use class’.
Whether a commercial property can be used as premises from which to sell food or as office space, for curing fish or to conduct financial services from, is governed by its ‘use class’. This is a classification allocated to a building by its local authority and, because changing this classification can be a complex exercise, it’s important to find a property with the right use class for your business activities.
Basically there are four class groups: A, B, C and D.
Group A
This group is subdivided into three sections: shops (A1), financial and professional services (A2), and food and drink (A3). The legislation is quite specific about what types of shops come under the A1 classification; it’s also worth noting that financial and professional services are separated from general office space, which is in Group B, and whether food and drink can be sold and or eaten on the premises is an important issue within Class A3.
Group B
This group is subdivided into eight sections, basically centred around business activities – as in offices – and various industrial uses for commercial property. Once again, the legislation gets quite specific and some of the industrial uses start to sound quite medieval, such as in Class B7 your business would be allowed to boil blood, chitterlings, nettlings or soap; boil, burn, grind or steam bones; and breed maggots from putrescible animal matter.
Group C
This group is subdivided into three sections: hotels and hostels, residential institutions, and residential dwellings.
Group D
This final group is subdivided into just two sections: non-residential institutions, such as nurseries, schools, museums and libraries, and commercial property used for leisure purposes, such as cinemas, gymnasiums and a variety of indoor and outdoor sports activities.
To fully understand the class your business should be looking for take a look at the complete list at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1987/764/schedule/made.
