On 9 November 2020, the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 (“the 2020 Regulations”) were published. These 2020 Regulations make a number of changes to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 (“GPDO”). They came into force partly on 3 December 2020 with further parts coming into force on 1 January 2021, and fully on 6 April 2021.
The changes they bring are as follows:
In addition, Class B of the GPDO permitted ‘any building operation consisting of the demolition of a building.’ The 2020 Regulations exclude the demolition of a concert hall, a live music venue or theatre from Class B. Instead, from 3 December 2020, the proposed demolition of such venues would need to be considered as part of a planning application. Although, this exemption has not been extended to other Sui Generis uses such as cinemas and bingo halls.