In this blog, Kayleigh Lancaster (Planning Specialist) provides her advice on whether planning permission could be required for the use of existing homes, annexes or outbuildings to provide short-term holiday letting accommodation.
Following the rise of AirBnB, many homeowners have decided to let either all or part of their properties to visitors for short-term holidays. If you are considering starting a short-term let, in particular a holiday let, you may be required to apply for ‘change of use’ planning permission. Planning approval is required in situations whereby using the property as a short-term let amounts to a ‘material change of use’. There is no statutory definition for a material change of use; however, it is related to the significance of change and the consequent impact on the use of land and buildings. Planning Practice Guidance explains that a material change of use is a matter of fact and degree, and cases will be determined on their individual merits.
The difficulty with short-term lets is that they have no specified Use Class and can therefore fall into a number of classes. Short-term lets are mostly considered under the ‘C3 dwellinghouses’ use class. The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 defines this class as:
Use as a dwellinghouse (whether or not as a sole or main residence) by:
- a single person or by people to be regarded as forming a single household;
- not more than six residents living together as a single household where care is provided for residents, or
- not more than six residents living together as a single household where no care is provided to residents.
This definition suggests that the main criteria which short-term lets must meet is to be occupied by one ‘single household’ at a time. The exception to this is where a material change of use is considered to have taken place. Advice on what constitutes a material change of use has been taken from recent case law.
Moore v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [18 September 2012] involved a case were a nine-bedroom property was rented out entirely to large groups of guests. Suffolk Coastal District Council issued an enforcement notice alleging a breach of planning control. The breach was stated to be a change of use without planning permission from a C3 dwellinghouse to commercial leisure accommodation which was considered to be a ‘sui generis’ use. Moore appealed the enforcement notice and the case was eventually heard by Lord Justice Sullivan in the Court of Appeal.
Lord Justice Sullivan established that a material change of use depends on the character of the use, i.e. who is staying in the property, when are they staying and how are they using the property. He also explained that the character of use can be judged by its impact on neighbours. The issues he put forward included:
- Parking – if guests bring more vehicles than would be expected for a typical family, this may constitute a material change of use;
- Patterns of arrival and departure – if guests are arriving and departing at unusual hours of the day, this may constitute a material change of use;
- Number of guests – if the number of guests staying in the property is more than might reasonably be expected to live the house, this may constitute a material change of use;
- Frequency of “party type activities” – if parties are occurring on a more frequent basis than might be expected at a residential property, this may constitute a material change of use, and
- Refuse and recycling collection – if a lack of organisation around refuse and recycling collections are causing a visible impact to local residents, this may constitute a material change of use.
To summarise, in order to operate a short-term holiday let under the C3 dwellinghouses use class you must operate the property as a single unit (e.g. not let by the room); ensure that most of your guests form a single household either because they are related or because there are not more than 6 guests and ensure that no material change of use has occurred by minimising the impact on the neighbours.
However, if the property is similar in nature to the property in the Moore v SSCLG case, with a large number of guests staying at any one time, this may constitute a change of use to sui generis use and will require planning permission. The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 defines this class as “a use on its own to which any change of use will require planning permission, such as theatres, scrap yards, nightclubs, amusement centres, casinos, and large HMO’s”.
In parts of Cumbria, particularly the Lake District National Park, the reuse of buildings as short-term holiday lettings is not permitted. The only exceptions to this are when the building or site is not considered suitable for meeting a local need or local affordable need or is not viable or suitable for reuse as employment.
The PFK Planning and Development team have extensive knowledge and experience of planning for short-term holiday lets. If you would like to discuss your options for a holiday let, or if you have any other planning queries, please do not hesitate to contact us – email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., tel: 01228 586805