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As the lockdown continues, tenants and owners of pubs and/or restaurants are reminded of the Government’s permitted development rights that have been introduced to support the hospitality sector says commercial property agent Prop-Search.
Permitted development rights have been granted to allow for a temporary change of use from either Class A3 (restaurants and cafes), Class A4 (drinking establishments) to a use for the provision of takeaway food, which includes any use within Class A5 (hot food takeaways) and any hot or cold pre-prepared food for takeaway or delivery. The temporary change of use currently applies for any period up to 23 March 2021.
Samantha Jones, an Associate Director and Retail Specialist at Prop-Search, said “Whilst this change means that the usual requirement to secure planning permission has fallen away, to benefit from this change, businesses will be required to inform their local planning authority as to when the new use will begin and end.”
A separate licence may also be required if hot food and drink is to be supplied during certain hours - generally, from 11pm until 5am the morning after. If a licence is required, then trading without one may constitute a criminal offence and could also put tenants in breach of their lease.
Tenants will still also need to comply with any use restrictions set out in their lease unless agreement can be reached with the landlord to deviate from them. Depending on the drafting of the user clause in the lease, tenants may have flexibility to change the use of the premises without landlord consent. However, the new regulations provide that use of this new right does not affect the use class which the property had before the change of use to a takeaway begins.
Samantha added: “If the use is not permitted, then the wording of the user clause within the lease will be important.”
“Landlords will be familiar with the wording ‘such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed’ in a user covenant, but if the user clause does not specify that the landlord’s consent cannot be unreasonably withheld or delayed, then the landlord would be able to prevent the tenant from changing its use.”
Research by Just East - the online market place for delivery - has also showed that consumers are eating earlier and ordering takeaways throughout the week as they adjust their eating habits during lockdown. Without the daily commute, orders are starting two and a half hours earlier, at 5pm. Lunch has also followed suit, with a trend in orders peaking just before midday. One of the biggest trends Just Eat reported was the rise of food delivery earlier in the week. While vast amounts of people continue to order at the weekend, more meals are getting delivered on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.