Article 4 direction: Shops to financial and professional services (no longer in force)

Article 4 Direction relating to the change of use from shops to financial and professional services.

This Article 4 Direction is no longer in force.

Current status

On 1 September 2020, the government made changes to the way land uses are classified by introducing the combined commercial class, Class E. This brought shops and professional services into the same use class, making this Article 4 Direction ineffective.

We made a further Article 4 Direction relating to the change of use from Class E to residential. This was modified by the Secretary of State and came into force on 29 July 2022 and remains in force.

Article 4 Direction – came into effect on 1 April 2017

On 10 March 2016, we gave notice of a non-immediate Article 4 Direction. This removed the permitted development rights for change of use, from shops (former Use Class A1) to financial and professional services (former Use Class A2). On 25 May 2016, we confirmed the non-immediate Article 4 Direction which came into effect on 1 April 2017.

When it force, it was not possible to change the use of shops, within the defined areas to financial and professional services uses without a grant of planning permission by the council.

Maps of areas

The following maps show separately each area to which the Article 4 Direction applies: