Here you'll learn when planning permission is required for a change in the use of land or buildings.
Last updated: 2 July 2025
All buildings and land fall under a planning use class (or are considered ‘sui generis’, a Latin term meaning ‘in a class of its own’). Use classes determine what a building or plot of land will be used for by its owner or occupier.
The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Scotland) Order 1997 (as amended) groups common uses of land and buildings into different categories, known as ‘use classes’. The uses within each class are, for planning purposes, considered to be broadly similar to one another. Section 26(2)(f) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 states that the use of land or buildings for different purposes within the same ‘use class’ does not amount to ‘development’.
In March 2023, new legislation – the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development and Use Classes) (Scotland) Miscellaneous Amendment Order 2023 – amended the use class order to replace use class 1 (shops) and use class 2 (financial, professional and other services) with class 1A. The purpose of this was to increase permitted development rights, making it easier to change between uses without the need for planning permission.
Class 1A – Shops, financial, professional and other services (this covers a wide range of shops, including hairdressers, laundrettes and post offices and offices you would generally expect to see on a high street)
Class 3 - Food and drink (for consumption on the premises, including cafes and restaurants)
Class 4 – Business (offices not under 1A)
Class 5 - General Industrial
Class 6 - Storage and Distribution
Class 7 - Hotels and Hostels
Class 8 - Residential Institutions (this includes nursing homes, hospitals, and residential training schools)
Class 8A - Secure Residential Institutions (includes prisons, young offender units and military barracks)
Class 9 – Houses (this does not include flats, bed and breakfasts and ‘houses of multiple occupancy’)
Class 10 - Non-residential institutions (this includes libraries, museums, nurseries, schools, and places of religious worship)
Class 11 - Assembly and leisure (this includes sports facilities, cinemas and concert halls)
Sui Generis - uses not falling within any of the above classes. Some of the most common uses considered Sui generis are theatres, pubs, hot food takeaways and residential flats.
A change of use of land or buildings will require planning permission if the change is considered ‘material’ (significant) in terms of its impact on the surrounding area. The planning authority decides whether or not a change of use is material but the general presumption is that a change from one use class to another or involving any sui generis use (meaning in a class by itself) will be a material change of use.
Movement from one use to another within the same use class is not considered to be development so does not require planning permission.
There are also certain permitted development rights that allow for some changes of use to occur between different use classes without having to apply for planning permission. This is set out in this helpful table produced by Dumfries and Galloway Council.
The change of use of land or buildings has the potential to harm wildlife if impacts aren’t properly assessed and mitigated against. Check planning applications thoroughly to ensure that any changes in use are being carefully considered and assessed. You should submit comments to the planning authority as soon as you can if you have any concerns.