Classification of purpose groups

Classification of purpose groups Group | Title | Purpose for which the building or compartment of a building is intended to be used 1(a) | Residential (Dwellings) | Flat 1(b) | Residential (Dwellings) | Dwellinghouse which contains a habitable storey with a floor level which is more than 4.5 m above ground level 1(c) | Residential (Dwellings) | Dwellinghouse which does not contain a habitable storey with a floor level which is more than 4.5 m above ground level 1(b) | Residential (Institutional) | Hospital, nursing home, home for old people or for children, school or other similar establishment used as living accommodation or for the treatment, care or maintenance of people suffering from illness or mental or physical disability, place of detention, where such people sleep on the premises 1(c) | Residential (Other) | Hotel, boarding house, residential college, hall of residence, hostel, house in multiple occupation, and any other residential purpose not described above 2(a) | Office | Offices or premises used for the purpose of administration, clerical work (including writing, book keeping, sorting papers, filing, typing, duplicating, machine calculating, drawing and the editorial preparation of matter for publication, police and fire service work), handling money (including banking and building society work), and communications (including postal, telegraph and radio communications) or radio, television, film, audio or video recording, or performance (not open to the public) and their control 2(b) | Shop and Commercial | Shops or premises used for a retail trade or business (including the sale to members of the public of food or drink for immediate consumption and retail by auction, self-selection and over-the-counter wholesale trading, the business of lending books or periodicals for gain and the business of a barber or hairdresser) and premises to which the public is invited to deliver or to collect goods in connection with their hire, repair or other treatment, or (except in the case of repair of motor vehicles) where they themselves may carry out such repairs or other treatments 3 | Assembly and Recreation | Place of assembly, entertainment or recreation, including bingo halls, broadcasting, recording and film studios open to the public, casinos, dance halls, entertainment, conference, exhibition and leisure centres, funfairs and amusement arcades, museums and art galleries, non-residential clubs, theatres, cinemas and concert halls, educational establishments, dancing schools, gymnasia, swimming pool buildings, riding schools, skating rinks, sports pavilions, sports stadia, law courts, churches and other buildings for worship, crematoria, libraries open to the public, non-residential day centres, clinics, health centres and surgeries, passenger stations and termini for air, rail, road or sea travel, public toilets, zoos and menageries 4 | Industrial | Factories and other premises used for manufacturing, altering, repairing, cleaning, washing, breaking-up, adapting or processing any article, generating power, or slaughtering livestock 5 | Storage and other non-residential | Place for the storage or deposit of goods or materials [other than described under 7(b)] and any building not within any of the Purpose Groups 1 to 6 7(a) | Storage and other non-residential | Car parks designed to admit and accommodate only cars, motorcycles and passenger or light goods vehicles weighing no more than 2500 kg gross Notes: Purpose Group 1 includes – (a) any surgeries, consulting rooms, offices or similar accommodation not more than 50 m² in total floor area, forming part of a dwelling and used by an occupant of the dwelling in a professional or business capacity; and (b) an attached garage not more than 40 m² in floor area. A detached garage or open carport not more than 40 m² in floor area is included in Purpose Group 1(c); as is a detached building which consists of a garage and open carport where neither the garage nor open carport exceeds 40 m² in area.