Change of use drawings from £815
Turning a shop into a home, or a house into something it was not built to be, starts with finding the right route. We survey, draw the new layout and submit the application.
£815 £665 drawings + £150 survey (£815 total), no VAT to add
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The short answer
A change of use moves a building from one planning use class to another, such as a shop to a dwelling. Some changes are permitted development with a prior approval, and the rest need a planning application. Our fee is £665 drawings + £150 survey (£815 total), no VAT to add, plus the council’s fee for the route chosen.
Change of use drawings
from £815
- Drawings
- £665
- Measured survey
- £150
- Total you pay
- £815
- VAT
- None to add
- A measured survey of the building and a note of how it has been used, with the evidence for it
- Existing and proposed floor plans and elevations, drawn to show daylight, access and room sizes
- A route check: prior approval under Part 3 of the order, a planning application, or neither
- The forms, statement and any prior approval details the route requires, submitted for you
- Answers to council questions and free redraws of our drawings until approval
- An independent check of every sheet before it goes to the council
£665 drawings + £150 survey (£815 total). A starting fee: we confirm one fixed figure after checking your address. The council’s own fee, where there is one, is paid to the council.
Get my fixed feeHow a change of use runs with us
Use history
We establish what the building is lawfully used for now, and for how long, from the planning register and your records.
Route
We compare prior approval, a full application and a certificate, and tell you which can work and what each asks of you.
Survey
Every room is measured with its window, so natural light and room sizes can be shown on the plans.
Drawings
The new layout is drawn to the space standard, with the stair, access and bin and cycle stores.
Submission
We submit with the right fee and respond to the officer until the decision.
Shop, office or café to a home
Class MA of Part 3 of the permitted development order allows a building in Class E, which covers shops, offices and cafés, to become a dwelling. The building must have been in Class E or an older equivalent use for at least 2 years before the application. It cannot be a listed building, and it cannot lie in a National Park, an area of outstanding natural beauty or a World Heritage Site.
Before starting, you apply to the council to decide whether prior approval is needed on nine matters, among them transport, contamination, flood risk, noise from nearby commercial premises and adequate natural light in every habitable room. The change must be finished within 3 years of the prior approval date.
- Use for 2 years or more as shop, office, café or similar before the application
- Not a listed building, National Park, AONB or World Heritage Site
- Daylight in every habitable room is a prior approval matter
- Work must be completed within 3 years of approval
House to HMO, and why the use class matters
A home occupied by a single household is in Class C3. A house in multiple occupation for up to six residents is Class C4, and the Use Classes Order puts a larger HMO outside both. Moving between C3 and C4 is permitted development under Class L, unless an Article 4 direction has removed the right, as some London councils have done.
So the first question for a house to HMO is whether your borough has an Article 4 direction. If it has, you need a planning application, and the council’s HMO policy decides the outcome. We check both before the survey.
Space and light: what an officer checks on every conversion
New homes created by conversion are judged against the nationally described space standard: 39 square metres for a one-bedroom, one-person flat, or 37 with a shower room, and 50 square metres for one bedroom for two people. A single bedroom is at least 7.5 square metres and 2.15 metres wide; a double is 11.5 square metres.
Each room also needs a window of real size, an escape route and somewhere for bins and bikes. These are the points that sink conversions drawn from old floor plans, and the reason we survey every room.
Change of use in numbers
2 years
Continuous period of qualifying use needed before a Class MA application to convert a commercial building to a home.
Source: GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 3: changes of use (legislation.gov.uk)
3 years
Time allowed to complete the change of use after the prior approval date.
Source: GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 3: changes of use (legislation.gov.uk)
9
Matters on which a Class MA prior approval may be required, including transport, flood risk and natural light.
Source: GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 3: changes of use (legislation.gov.uk)
Class L
Permits a change between a house (C3) and a small HMO (C4), unless an Article 4 direction has removed it.
Source: GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 3: changes of use (legislation.gov.uk)
6
Most residents a small HMO in Class C4 may have; a larger HMO falls outside the class.
Source: Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987, Schedule (legislation.gov.uk)
39 m²
Minimum floor area of a one-bedroom, one-person dwelling (37 square metres with a shower room).
Source: Technical housing standards: nationally described space standard (GOV.UK)
50 m²
Minimum floor area of a one-bedroom, two-person dwelling.
Source: Technical housing standards: nationally described space standard (GOV.UK)
11.5 m²
Minimum area of a double bedroom, and one double bedroom in a home must be at least 2.75 metres wide.
Source: Technical housing standards: nationally described space standard (GOV.UK)
Questions about change of use
How do I prove my building has been used as a shop for 2 years?
Business rates records, tenancy agreements, utility bills and trading accounts are the usual evidence. We tell you what the council expects before you apply.
Will I need building regulations approval too?
Yes. A change of use is a material change of use under the Building Regulations, even when planning permission is not needed, so a building control application follows. See building regulations drawings.
Does the council fee depend on the number of homes?
Fees for new homes are set by the number of dwellings, and prior approval has its own fee. We give you the exact council fee when we confirm the route.
Can I change use without telling the council?
Some small changes need no permission, but if the use class changes and no right applies, building without permission can lead to enforcement. A Lawful Development Certificate is the safe way to check.
Find the right route for the change
Send the address and what you want it to become. We reply with the route and a fixed fee, from £665 drawings + £150 survey (£815 total).