A change of use may be temporary as well as permanent
A worked RES examination question on change of use, from our Paper 1 bank — with the rule it turns on, and why each of the four options is right or wrong.
The question
A tenant wants to run a childcare centre out of a bungalow for three years while a nearby school is rebuilt, and a factory owner wants to run a pub out of part of his warehouse for a two-year trial. Each has held off because he believes a change of use, once approved, is permanent — that the bungalow and the warehouse would be tied to the new use for good and could never revert.
Which statement is correct?
The answer, and why
Answer: A
The rule. A change of use may be temporary as well as permanent. A temporary change of use is granted for a period the planning authority decides, after which the premises revert.
Why A is correct. Both the childcare use of the bungalow and the pub use of the warehouse can be granted as temporary changes for a fixed period.
The other options.
- B denies any temporary change.
- C excludes the industrial-origin case, which the warehouse pub disproves.
- D denies a fixed term.
Exam note. Temporary change of use is real, and it is not limited to one kind of starting use — a warehouse and a bungalow can each get one for a set period.
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