Class E or F?

[alicegoody]

I am looking at opening a nursery (registered with ofsted). My building currently currently has class F1 use and so I'm not sure whether I would need to change this to class E. The council's planning officer has stated that it would be class E unless I can present some robust evidence e.g. planning decisions to demonstrate otherwise.

What would this be and how would I go about doing this?

 

[^woody^]

Get advice from a planning consultant or a planning lawyer.

At a basic level, the difference would be whether the nursery is purely commercial (Class E) or community/public (Class F1), so the range of services may be crucial to what Use Class applies.

Changing Use Class is just a process of applying for permission, but you need to consider the impact on the building, in particular the subsequent value and desirability to future owners/users.