What is Class MA prior approval?

Class MA is a permitted development right allowing buildings in Commercial, Business and Service use (Class E) to change to residential use as dwellinghouses, without a full planning application. It operates through prior approval: the change of use is already permitted, and the council considers only a defined list of matters set out in the legislation rather than the development plan as a whole.

Is there still a 1,500 square metre limit on Class MA?

No. The 1,500 square metre floorspace cap and the requirement that the building had been vacant for three months were both removed on 5 March 2024. A scheme that was refused or abandoned on either of those grounds before that date may qualify now.

How long must a building have been in commercial use to qualify for Class MA?

The building must have been in use falling within Class E for a continuous period of at least two years before the date of the prior approval application. Business rates records, leases and utility accounts are the evidence councils normally expect.

Can Class MA be used on a listed building or in a conservation area?

Not on a listed building or land within its curtilage - those are excluded outright, as are scheduled monuments, sites of special scientific interest, and land in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, National Park, the Broads or a World Heritage Site. A conservation area is not an exclusion: Class MA remains available, but where the ground floor changes use the council additionally considers the impact on the character or sustainability of the conservation area.

Class MA: Converting Commercial Premises to Homes

General guidance for property owners and developers in England. Last reviewed: 12 September 2026

General information, not a decision on any specific property. Confirm your position with your local planning authority before starting work. See our AI Disclaimer.

What Class MA is

Class MA is a permitted development right that lets a building in Commercial, Business and Service use (Class E) change to residential use as one or more dwellinghouses. Class E is broad: it covers shops, restaurants and cafes, offices, gyms, clinics, nurseries, and light industrial premises compatible with a residential area.

The important point about Class MA is what it is not. It is not a planning application. The change of use is already permitted by the legislation; what the council carries out is a prior approval, in which it may consider only a defined list of matters. Policies protecting town-centre frontages, shop units or employment land are not among them — the loss of the commercial use does not have to be justified on this route.

The rules changed in March 2024

Two significant restrictions were removed on 5 March 2024:

The 1,500 sq m floorspace cap is gone. There is no longer an upper limit on the floorspace that can be converted under Class MA.
The three-month vacancy requirement is gone. The building no longer has to have been vacant before the application.

If a scheme was ruled out on either ground before that date, it is worth checking again — the position may now be entirely different.

What still has to be satisfied

Two years of continuous Class E use

The building must have been in use falling within Class E for a continuous period of at least two years ending on the date of the prior approval application. This is the condition that most often decides whether the route is open. Business rates records, leases and utility accounts are the evidence councils normally expect, and it is worth assembling before applying rather than after a request for further information.

Excluded sites

Class MA is not available at all where the building is, or the land forms part of:

a listed building, or land within its curtilage;
a scheduled monument, or land within its curtilage;
a site of special scientific interest;
a safety hazard area or a military explosives storage area;
an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, a National Park, the Broads, or a World Heritage Site.

Agricultural tenancy sites need the express consent of both landlord and tenant.

Conservation areas are not an exclusion

A conservation area does not close off Class MA. What it does is add a consideration: where the change of use affects the ground floor, the council also assesses the impact on the character or sustainability of the conservation area. A scheme converting only the upper floors avoids that question.

What the council can actually consider

On a prior approval the council's remit is confined to the matters the legislation names. For Class MA those are:

Transport — the transport impacts of the development, particularly ensuring safe site access;
Contamination — contamination risks in relation to the building;
Flooding — flooding risks in relation to the building;
Noise — the impact of noise from commercial premises on the intended occupiers;
Natural light — the provision of adequate natural light in all habitable rooms;
Conservation area character — where the ground floor changes use in a designated area;
Neighbouring industrial uses — the impact on intended occupiers of nearby industrial, waste or storage uses;
Loss of services — where a registered nursery or an NHS health centre would be lost.

Natural light is the one that most often causes difficulty in practice. Deep floorplates designed for retail or offices frequently produce rooms no window can adequately serve, and the requirement applies to every habitable room, not most of them. It is worth testing the layout against it before committing to a scheme.

The homes still have to be proper homes

Class MA removes the need for a planning application. It does not remove the nationally described space standards, which apply to dwellings created under it. Nor does it touch the Building Regulations, which apply in full to the conversion works — fire safety, sound insulation between dwellings, ventilation, and means of escape all have to be dealt with in their own right.

Development under Class MA must be completed within three years of the prior approval date.

What to submit

A Class MA prior approval submission is shorter than a planning application — there is no ownership certificate and no design and access statement — but it is not trivial. In practice it comprises a written description of the development, existing and proposed floor plans showing window positions for the natural light assessment, a plan identifying the site, transport and access information, contamination and flood risk screening, a noise assessment where commercial neighbours remain, and the fee (set per dwellinghouse created).

How ArchLens helps

Whether Class MA is open to a particular building is a question of fact: the use, how long it has been that use, and what designations apply to the land. ArchLens tests those conditions against the current legislation and tells you which route your scheme is actually on — Class MA prior approval, or a full planning application — along with what each requires. It reads your drawings, checks the scheme against your council's own adopted policies, and quotes the source for every point.

Check whether Class MA is open to your building

Describe the property and the scheme. ArchLens determines the route and sets out what it requires — you don't have to know which one applies before you start.

Create a Free Account