It is important to remember all commercial properties in the UK are given permitted usage and this includes warehouses. Warehouses can be put into various different use class categories, such as storage and distribution.
Warehouses can typically fall under in one of the following use classes.
A1 Retail warehouse – A retail warehouses sells products as a shop does, but typically on a larger scale therefore visually, it looks more like a warehouse than a shop unit (i.e. Pets at Home and Argos).
B8 Storage and Distribution – This use class is applicable to distribution centres, storage space and wholesale warehouse as well as open air storage.
If you are planning to acquire a warehouse for other purposes, you will most likely be required to change use and obtain planning permission, which can be a long process. So ideally you will want to find a property with the right use class to what you intend to use it for.
However, it should be noted that there are certain use class changes that will not require planning permission. For example, if the property has the B1 or B2 use class, then you would not require planning permission o change it to B8. Additionally, no planning permission is required for the use class changes from A3, A4 and A5 to A1 Retail Warehouse.
This really is a significant advantage of this property category as it gives you high flexibility on the range of warehouses you can choose to rent or buy.
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