Use categories
Housing statistics and English Housing Survey, glossary, published by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in 2019, defines Use categories as: ‘Decisions relating to major or minor developments are classified by reference to the principal use within the development (i.e. the use on which other uses are considered to depend). Normally this is the one which accounts for the greater proportion of the new floorspace (although in certain cases the principal use will be one that does not account for any floorspace as such). If there is any doubt as to the principal use in a multi-storey block, the ground floor use is taken as the principal one. (This rule would apply where, for example, the amounts of floorspace taken up by 2 different uses were approximately equal.) Proposed developments are classified on the basis of the principal use and not that of the complex of which they are part. Thus, a development involving the construction of offices within the curtilage of a general industrial site would be classified as ‘Offices/Research and Development/Light Industry’. Similarly, a dance-floor extension to a restaurant would be classified as ‘All other minor developments’ and not to ‘Retail, distribution and servicing’.’
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
Featured articles and news
Level 6 Design, Construction and Management BSc
CIOB launches first-ever degree programme to develop the next generation of construction leaders.
Open for business as of April, with its 2026 prospectus and new pipeline of housing schemes.
The operational value of workforce health
Keeping projects moving. ECA on better incorporation of unplanned absence and the importance of health in operations.
A carbon case for indigenous slate
UK slate can offer clear embodied carbon advantages.
Costs and insolvencies mount for SMEs, despite growth
Construction sector under insolvency and wage bill pressure in part linked to National Insurance, says report.
The place for vitrified clay pipes in modern infrastructure
Why vitrified clay pipes are reclaiming their role in built projects.
Research by construction PR consultancy LMC published.
Roles and responsibilities of domestic clients
ACA Safety in Construction guide for domestic clients.
Fire door compliance in UK commercial buildings
Architect and manufacturer gives their low down.
Plumbing and heating for sustainability in new properties
Technical Engineer runs through changes in regulations, innovations in materials, and product systems.
Awareness of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
What CBAM is and what to do about it.
The new towns and strategic environmental assessments
12 locations of the New Towns Taskforce reduced to 7 within the new towns draft programme and open consultation.
Buildings that changed the future of architecture. Book review.
The Sustainability Pathfinder© Handbook
Built environment agency launches free Pathfinder© tool to help businesses progress sustainability strategies.
Government outcome to the late payment consultation, ECA reacts.
IHBC 2025 Gus Astley Student Award winners
Work on the role of hewing in UK historic conservation a win for Jack Parker of Oxford Brookes University.
Comments
[edit] To make a comment about this article, or to suggest changes, click 'Add a comment' above. Separate your comments from any existing comments by inserting a horizontal line.