Q&As

What is the effect on a lease that defines a permitted use as B1, B2 and B8 of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 as at the date the lease is granted and the lease was granted in 2022? Does this mean that B1 use will be excluded, while B2 and B8 use are permitted?

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Produced in partnership with Kevin Leigh

Published on: 26 September 2022

Use Class B1 of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (UCO 1987), SI 1987/764 was removed from the UCO 1987 from 1 September 2020. Most of the uses previously within that use class are now within Class E ((UCO 1987, SI 1987/764, Sch 2) which is a very wide class of use. The precise answer to the question is a matter of construction of the lease. Depending how tight or wide the clause describing the permitted uses is construed,

Kevin Leigh

Barrister and Mediator

I have been a barrister since 1986. I also managed property development/construction companies in 2007-2008 and continue to be involved in property development outside of my professional work.

For many years I was on the Bar Council committee/panel dealing with public and licensed access. I also sat for over 12 years on ‘The Disciplinary Tribunal of the Council of the Inns of Court’ as a judge dealing with professional complaints against barristers. In 2020 I was appointed for 3 years to the RTPI’s ‘Conduct & Discipline Appeal Committee’. In 2024, I was re-appointed for a further 3 years to the RTPI’s ‘Conduct & Discipline Appeal Committee’.

I have acted as an ad hoc consultant to property developers and organisations dealing with land providing advice and assisting project management from inception (looking at sites and proposed projects, negotiating with vendors, meetings with planning authorities) through to obtaining consent including representation on appeal and in court.

At the Bar I specialise in all aspects of planning law (especially residential and commercial schemes including retail, office, leisure and hotel development) and real property issues (boundaries, easements and covenants). I also advise and represent clients in judicial review and misfeasance cases. I have appeared at all levels of the civil and criminal courts as well as in inquiries and hearings.

Member of the Planning & Environment, Chancery and Property Bar Associations. Answers questions for LexisNexis on property, planning and litigation. On the Bar Council dealt with direct/licensed access. Disciplinary tribunal judge hearing complaints.