Statutory Instruments
TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING, SCOTLAND
Made
18th December 1997
Coming into force
2nd February 1998
The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 26(2)(f) and 275(8) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997(1) and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Order:
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
C1Order applied (with modifications) (12.6.2006) by The Town and Country Planning (Application of Subordinate Legislation to the Crown) (Scotland) Order 2006 (S.S.I. 2006/270), arts. 1(1), 16
1. This Order may be cited as the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Scotland) Order 1997 and shall come into force on 2nd February 1998.
2. In this Order, the following expressions have the meanings assigned to them:–
“care” means personal care including the provision of appropriate help with physical and social needs or support; and in class 8 (residential institutions) includes medical care and treatment;
“class” means a class specified in the Schedule to this Order;
“day centre” means non-residential premises which are used for social purposes, recreation, rehabilitation or occupational training and at which care is also provided;
“industrial process” means a process, other than a process carried out in or adjacent to, a mine or quarry, for or incidental to–
the making of any article or part of any article including a ship or vessel or a film, video or sound recording;
the altering, repairing, maintaining, ornamenting, finishing, cleaning, washing, packing, canning, adapting for sale, breaking up or demolition of any article; or
the getting, dressing or treatment of minerals,
in the course of any use other than agriculture;
“site” means the whole area of land within a single unit of occupation;
“support” means counselling or other help provided as part of a planned programme of care.
3.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Order, where a building or other land is used for a purpose in any class specified in the Schedule to this Order, the use of that building or that other land for any other purpose in the same class shall not be taken to involve development of the land.
(2) References in paragraph (1) to a building include references to land occupied with the building and used for the same purposes.
(3) A use included in and ordinarily incidental to any use in a class shall not be precluded from that use by virtue of being specified in another class.
(4) Where land on a single site or on adjacent sites used as parts of a single undertaking comprises uses within both class 4 (business) and class 5 (general industrial), those uses may be treated as if they were in a single class in considering the use of that land for the purposes of this Order, provided that the area used for a purpose falling within class 5 (general industrial) shall not be substantially increased as a result.
(5) Nothing in any class shall include any use–
(a)as a theatre;
(b)as an amusement arcade or centre or funfair;
(c)for the sale of fuel for motor vehicles;
(d)for the sale or display for sale of motor vehicles;
(e)for a taxi business or for the hire of motor vehicles;
(f)as a scrapyard or a yard for the breaking of motor vehicles;
(g)for the storage or distribution of minerals;
(h)as a public house;
(i)for any work registrable under the Alkali etc. Works Regulation Act 1906(2); F1...
(j)for the sale of hot food for consumption off the premises;
[F2(k)as a waste disposal installation for the incineration, chemical treatment (as defined in Annex IIA to Directive 75/442/EEC under heading D9), or landfill of waste to which Directive 91/689/EEC applies;]
[F3(l)as a betting office; F4...
(m)as a pay day loan shop][F5; or
(n)of a building for flexible commercial use within the meaning of, and as permitted by virtue of class 18C or class 22B of schedule 1 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992.]
[F6(6) In this article—
“high-cost short-term credit” has the meaning given in the edition of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Handbook which came into effect on 1st April 2014 (following an amendment by the Authority in the Consumer Credit (Consequential and Supplementary Amendments) Instrument 2014); and
“pay day loan shop” means premises—
from which high-cost short-term credit is provided principally to visiting members of the public and includes premises from which such credit is provided in addition to other financial or professional services; and
which, but for provision made in this article, would fall within [F7paragraph (2) of class 1A (financial, professional and other services)] of the schedule of this Order.]
Textual Amendments
F1Word in art. 3(5) omitted (10.2.2017) by virtue of The Town and Country Planning (Miscellaneous Amendments and Transitional Saving Provision) (Scotland) Order 2016 (S.S.I. 2016/421), arts. 1(1), 3(2)(a) (with art. 4)
F2Art. 3(5)(k) inserted (1.8.1999) by The Environmental Impact Assessment (Scotland) Regulations 1999 (S.S.I. 1999/1), regs. 1, 47(2)
F3Art. 3(5)(l)(m) inserted (10.2.2017) by The Town and Country Planning (Miscellaneous Amendments and Transitional Saving Provision) (Scotland) Order 2016 (S.S.I. 2016/421), arts. 1(1), 3(2)(b) (with art. 4)
F4Word in art. 3(5) omitted (1.4.2021) by virtue of The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development and Use Classes) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2020 (S.S.I. 2020/437), arts. 1, 17(2)(a) (with art. 2)
F5Art. 3(5)(n) and word inserted (1.4.2021) by The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development and Use Classes) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2020 (S.S.I. 2020/437), arts. 1, 17(2)(b) (with art. 2)
F6Art. 3(6) inserted (10.2.2017) by The Town and Country Planning (Miscellaneous Amendments and Transitional Saving Provision) (Scotland) Order 2016 (S.S.I. 2016/421), arts. 1(1), 3(3) (with art. 4)
F7Words in art. 3(6) substituted (31.3.2023) by The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development and Use Classes) (Scotland) Miscellaneous Amendment Order 2023 (S.S.I. 2023/35), arts. 1, 13(2) (with art. 2)
Commencement Information
4. In the case of a building used for a purpose within class 9 (houses) the use as a separate house of any part of the building or of any land occupied with and used for the same purposes as the building shall not, by virtue of this Order, be taken as not amounting to development.
5. The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Scotland) Order 1989(3) and the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Scotland) Amendment Order 1993(4) are hereby revoked.
Calum MacDonald
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Scottish Office
St Andrew’s House,
Edinburgh
18th December 1997
Article 3
F8...
Textual Amendments
F8...
Textual Amendments
Class 1A.—(1) Use—
(a)for the retail sale of goods other than hot food,
(b)as a post office,
(c)for the sale of tickets,
(d)as a travel agency,
(e)for the sale of cold food for consumption off the premises,
(f)for hairdressing,
(g)for the direction of funerals,
(h)for the display of goods for sale,
(i)for the hiring out of domestic or personal goods or articles,
(j)as a laundrette or dry cleaners,
(k)for the reception of goods to be washed, cleaned or repaired,
where the sale, display or service is principally to visiting members of the public.
(2) Use for the provision of—
(a)financial services,
(b)professional services,
(c)any other services,
which it is appropriate to provide in a shopping area and where the sale, display or service is principally to visiting members of the public.]
Textual Amendments
Use for the sale of food or drink for consumption on the premises.
Use–
(a)as an office, other than a use within [F9paragraph 2 of class 1A (financial, professional and other services)];
(b)for research and development of products or processes; or
(c)for any industrial process;
being a use which can be carried on in any residential area without detriment to the amenity of that area by reason of noise, vibration, smell, fumes, smoke, soot, ash, dust or grit.
Textual Amendments
Use for the carrying on of an industrial process other than one falling within class 4 (business).
Use for storage or as a distribution centre.
Use as a hotel, boarding house, guest house, or hostel where no significant element of care is provided, other than premises [F10where alcohol (within the meaning given by section 2 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005) is sold, pursuant to a premises licence issued under that Act,] to persons other than residents or to persons other than persons consuming meals on the premises and other than a use within class 9 (houses).
Textual Amendments
F10Words in Sch. class 7 substituted (1.9.2009 at 5.00 a.m.) by The Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 (Consequential Provisions) Order 2009 (S.S.I. 2009/248), art. 1(1), sch. 1 para. 14 (with art. 3)
Use–
(a)for the provision of residential accommodation and care to people in need of care other than a use within class 9 (houses);
(b)as a hospital or nursing home; or
(c)as a residential school, college or training centre.
Use–
(a)as a house, other than a flat, whether or not as a sole or main residence, by–
(i)a single person or by people living together as a family, or
(ii)not more than 5 residents living together including a household where care is provided for residents;
(b)as a bed and breakfast establishment or guesthouse [F11(not in either case being carried out in a flat)], where at any one time not more than 2 bedrooms are, or in the case of premises having less than 4 bedrooms 1 bedroom is, used for that purpose.
Textual Amendments
F11Words in Sch. class 9 added (26.5.1998) by The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Scotland) Amendment Order 1998 (S.I. 1998/1196), arts. 1, 2
Use, not including residential use–
(a)as a crêche, day nursery or day centre;
(b)for the provision of education;
(c)for the display of works of art (otherwise than for sale or hire);
(d)as a museum;
(e)as a public library or public reading room;
(f)as a public hall or exhibition hall; or
(g)for, or in connection with, public worship or religious instruction, or the social or recreational activities of a religious body.
Use as a–
(a)cinema;
(b)concert hall;
(c)bingo hall or casino;
(d)dance hall or discotheque; or
(e)swimming bath, skating rink, gymnasium or area for other indoor or outdoor sports or recreation, not involving motorised vehicles or firearms.
(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order replaces, with certain amendments, the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Scotland) Order 1989 as amended by the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Scotland) Amendment Order 1993. The 1989 Order is revoked.
This Order specifies classes of use of buildings or other land for the purposes of section 26(2)(f) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997. Section 26(2) specifies operations or uses which are not to be taken for the purposes of the Act as involving development, and which therefore do not require planning permission. Paragraph (f) provides that a change of use is not to be regarded as involving development where the former use and the new use are both within the same class specified in an order made under that paragraph.
Various changes are made in this Order to the classes of use specified in the Schedule to the 1989 Order.
Classes 1, 2 and 4 (shops; financial, professional and other services; and business) remain the same.
Class 3 (food and drink) has been amended to exclude use for the sale of hot food for consumption off the premises. This has been added to article 3(5) as a sui generis use.
Class 5 (general industrial) now covers the previous classes 7 to 10 (special industrial groups B to E) which have been deleted.
Class 6 (storage or distribution) reflects the old class 11.
Classes 7, 8, 10 and 11 (hotels and hostels; residential institutions; non-residential institutions; and assembly and leisure) reflect the previous classes 12, 13, 15 and 16.
Class 9 (houses) largely reflects the former class 14 but has been extended to include limited use as a bed and breakfast or guest house.
Some minor consequential amendments have also been made.