Planning consent for beauty salon

[KattyB]

Hello everyone

I am about 2 weeks away from signing my lease for my new salon. The space which I am planning leasing is currentley registered as B1 business use with the council. Apparently Beauty salons fall under the catagory of Sewery Generous - I think thats how you spell it anyway and so I will have to apply for planning permission.

There doesn't seem to be anything that will stop me getting the consent however it will cost £265 to get it changed over and will take 6-8 weeks. If I was to get rufused planning I would have already started my business by this point and would have to pay the lease off (approx £7k) without being able to trade there.

You don't have to tell the council however they frown upon it if they find out and you haven't told them. If after 10 years of trading you still don't tell them then the business use simply changes to whatever it has been for the last 10 years.

Hairdressers are different to beauty salons as they fall under the retail catagory, however if a beauty salon wants to open upstairs you are supposed to change the use.

I just wondered how many of you have faced this problem and if you have applied or not bothered? Has anyone been refused planning for a salon?

 

[lilacm]

I have a salon and we were told we needed A1 use (i think its the same as for retail etc) but maybe it depends on the area you are in.

I think you should probably tell them because they will check when they assess you for your rates as they have to do an inspection.

Lilac

 

[bronni]

I was told that beauty comes under medical (doctors, dentists) (cant remember what it was i think they said B something)

It must depend on your area - very strange!

xxx

 

[Cathie!]

In the land use book that planning departments generally use, beauty/nail salons come under sui generis, which means that they don't really fit into any other category.

Here's a snippet from Wikepedia:

The requirement to obtain planning permission extends not only to new construction, but also in substantive changes of use of a property. There are various 'use classes', and change of use to a different use class generally requires Planning permission.
The main classes are:

• A1: shops
• A2: financial and professional services
• A3: restaurants and cafés
• A4: drinking establishments
• A5: hot food takeaways

• B1: businesses (offices, light industry)
• B2: general industrial
• B8: storage and distribution

• C1: hotels
• C2: residential institutions
• C3: dwelling houses

• D1: non-residential institutions (schools, libraries, surgeries)
• D2: assembly and leisure (cinemas, swimming baths, gymnasiums)

Classes A3 to A5 were formed recently by a split of the previous A3 class 'Food and Drink'.
Various uses are considered to be sui generis, meaning that they are considered to be a use class in themselves, and not part of an existing use class. These specifically include:

• theatres
• amusement arcades
• laundrettes
• petrol stations
• car dealerships
• taxi/car rental firm
• scrapyard
• nightclubs
• warehouse clubs

Or the link if you want to read it all!

Town and country planning in the United Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I have often pondered why salons don't come under A1 the same as hair....I think itis something they are looking at though......so I think yes you will have to go for planning permission, especially as your premises is currently classed as offices (B), not even retail(A).

 

[Sharkster]

Hi Katty B,

Have you tried calling your local council planning department and going through this with them? They may give you an indication if the planning application is likely to be supported?

 

[gravity]

Hi

i know this thread was a few years ago however i am going through the same problem at the moment and just wondered what u did in the end and if u got it.

Thanks

 

[jes]

I am about 2 weeks away from signing my lease for my new salon. The space which I am planning leasing is currentley registered as B1 business use with the council. Apparently Beauty salons fall under the catagory of Sewery Generous - I think thats how you spell it anyway and so I will have to apply for planning permission.

Hiya, Sorting out planning permission is one of the things your solicitor should have done for you while negotiating the lease, so I would tell them to get onto it.

I definitely wouldn't sign the lease until you've got planning permission, as it's not impossible for it to be refused and even if it accepted there's likely to be an increase in the rateable value and probably your rent

 

[nixnewcastle]

What happens if it's down as A1 and you just accidentally on purpose didn't realise you needed suis generis use applied for?

 

[BABSann]

I wouldn't risk not telling the council. I was going through the exact same thing. It's an absolute joke. Even the planning officer said she thought it was a joke that we don't come into any category.

So we have to spend about £300 quid on changing the use over. The paperwork or online application is horrendous and took me 3 days on and off as I was getting really exasperated with it.

Top that off with the ridiculous amount of time we then have to wait for it. I was also told 6-8 weeks. That coupled with the issue of if you have to fit shop out, which most of us do, and if we take the risk in spending hundreds or whatever amount, before we get permission, then the council refuse the application, that's a total waste of money.

I spoke to the housing officer about that also and she said she couldn't advise me either way. So basically I wouldn't have been able to open the shop before Christmas as there just wouldn't realistically have been time to fit it all out and there was no way was I going to spend time, money and energy doing it all up only to have the possibility of having the permission refused and then having to rip everything out again.


I wouldn't ask a solicitor to do it. As just more money in his/ her pocket and its something that anyone with half a brain can do. Obviously if you have plenty of money and its not an issue then get someone to do it for you but the general idea is for us to do it ourselves from what I've been advised.

As for accidentally on purpose not realising what usage it comes under, well again I wouldn't take that risk. What if the council came in, after 3 years hard labour, and said they weren't happy and you had to vacate? They could be really awkward and refuse your planning permission because you accidentally on purpose didn't bother going through the correct channels.

 

[nixnewcastle]

But if you own the property (not lease) what can they really do?
You're right it's a total joke. Looks like we'll be in for maybe jan or feb, marvellous the quietest time of the year!

 

[marie111]

whether you own or not you have to apply for change of business use, I'm in the process of doing it, just sitting waiting, spent over £1000 on a different property, council application, plans drawn, maps etc. for the owner to pull out at the last minute so back to square one. This is our 3rd building we have applied for, 1st one got flatly refused. DONT sign lease until change of use has been agreed, it could cost you a lot of money that you wont get back, not to mention the time wasted. Some councils are helpful when you speak to them, the one I am applying to wanted £200 for an informal meeting, phone the and see how helpful they are.

 

[nixnewcastle]

It's madness isn't it! No wonder there's so many mobile therapists and hairdressers!

 

[marie111]

what we're applying for isn't beauty related but the goverment wonder why theres so much unemployment because the local councils aren't making it easy for small businesses to get started. They could make it easier or give out more advice than what they do.

 

[BABSann]

what we're applying for isn't beauty related but the goverment wonder why theres so much unemployment because the local councils aren't making it easy for small businesses to get started. They could make it easier or give out more advice than what they do.

Well I've pulled out of mine. I just can't justify it tbh. Not when I know I won't even be up and running for Christmas.

I've decided to work from home, build up but keep eyes open for right premises and then time it so its either ready for summer or the following Xmas.

I don't like doing this but I just see no point whatsoever in being in there after Xmas when Xmas is what carries us through the quieter months. I luckily already have some clients who are more than happy to come to my home. Also my house is a chalet style bungalow and I have a large empty room downstairs just waiting to be converted.

Such a shame though because I would've been renting one of the rooms and a desk plus I wanted a Botox nurse to come in. That's three jobs for people down the pan. All because of this.

Also it's not the councils fault. It's down to the government. They are the ones who put beauty therapists in this ridiculous no mans land. They should sort that out and also have some sort of fast track for businesses to get going instead of us having to pay what predominantly could be thousands in some cases.

It's an absolute joke.

 

[KattyB]

ahh this brought back some memories when I saw that my old post had been dug out due to others having the same problem!!

Well my story went like this...I went ahead and kitted out the salon despite not having the correct usage...I needed to be in before xmas to catch the market so just went ahead and did it.

Fortunately for me it was granted...about 8 weeks later.I had a slight advantage that downstairs was a hairdressers so they couldn't really say no...well I suppose they could but they didn't!!! I still had many sleepless nights about it though.

Anyway long story short I no longer have my shop (sheds a tear). BIG learning curve. Trying to open for xmas was the worst idea of my life...I acheieved it but then come jan...silence...no clients...no money, took till march to pick up in which time I'd nearly had to sell my house to pay bills!!

Looking back I should have gone mobile for at least a year or two before embarking on becoming a salon owner. My shop was in the wrong location and after 2 years I did not have the funds to move to a more prominate position. plus the business rates were ridiculous...the icing on the cake for me!

Hoping one day I will have a shop again...very soon fingers crossed but totally agree with other comments in this thread about it not being made easy. I will have to go through this same process again with new premises...another £300 to the council (waste of money) and the delayed wait for them to say yay or nay. I would suggest applying only because it is amazing how snide competion can be and it only takes someone to point it out to the council and you could end up wasting alot more than £300. Good luck to you all

 

[BABSann]

Thank you for making me feel a whole lot better about my decision and I'm so sorry it didn't work out for you.:sad:

 

[KattyB]

yes babsan - I think you are wise...it would appear we are in a similar boat just keep rowing abit longer

 

[Emma Johnston]

I am about to open a salon in a a1 building with no back entrance just a front and has 2 treatment rooms already and a toilet the front is quite large ..my problem is changing it over to Sui generates and them declining it ! Will they tell me what I need to start like sinks in all rooms etc and does anyone know if the rooms have to be a certain size ? The advantage is my husbands friend owns the shop and I can change what I want before I apply! Does anyone know what they look for exactly health and safety wise ?
Thanks guys
Emma j