Planning essentials case update: do I need planning permission to work from home?

Planning permission is required for a “material change of use” pursuant to section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. However, there is no statutory definition of what amounts to a material change of use – instead it is a question of fact and degree and a judgment must be made by the decision maker i.e. in the first instance the local planning authority, taking account of case law and national guidance. 

The first step is to define the “planning unit” under consideration and then consider the existing and proposed use of that unit. In many cases, the planning unit will simply be the unit of occupation. 

The next step is to consider whether the change of use of the planning unit would be material – which includes consideration of any change to the character of the existing use and the resulting impact on the use of the land. 

Where multiple uses are proposed in the same planning unit, the local planning authority should consider whether there is a “primary” use to which other uses are “ancillary”. Whether a use is ancillary depends on its functional relationship to the main use; it is a test of whether something is “ordinarily incidental” to the primary use. If the primary use is not proposed to change (and the change is to “ancillary” uses only), then there will be no “material change of use” and planning permission will not be required.

Therefore, if you work from home it may be that your ‘working’ use is ancillary to your primary residential use. For example, if you use one of the rooms in your home as an office on a few days a week it is likely that this office use will be considered “ordinarily incidental”, and therefore ancillary to, your main residential use. In such a scenario you would not usually need planning permission. However, it will depend on the precise facts and circumstances. 

A recent appeal to the Planning Inspectorate provides a useful example (for the full decision see here): 

• The appellant was operating a child-minding business at their dwellinghouse. Up to six children attended for three and a half days a week. The childminding licence permitted up to nine children, and often different children attended in the morning to the afternoon. 
• In terms of the planning unit; part of the ground floor and garden was essentially set aside for child-minding but some ground floor areas reverted to the normal residential use outside the child-minding sessions.
• In terms of the character of the use, the Inspector noted that whilst the property remained residential, the character had changed to a degree (given how the ground floor had altered its functions).
• As regards the impact on the land, the Inspector noted that there would be increased traffic movements, demand for on-street parking, noise and disturbance beyond what could reasonably be associated with a residential use only. 

The Planning Inspectorate concluded that the child-minding use was not akin to a home office, but rather resulted in a notable change in the character of the property – such that there was a material change of use (from residential use to mixed use) which required planning permission. 

If you are considering carrying out any extra uses at your home you should consider whether the new use(s) will change the character of the residential use, and whether there is any extra impact on the area such as through increased traffic or noise which could mean that planning permission is required. 

If in doubt you should speak to officers at your local planning authority and consider applying for a certificate of proposed lawful use to provide certainty.