For pub owners and buyers who want homes
Pub Conversion in London: Change of Use from Pub to Residential
Sviatoslav JerdetchiiCEO & Founder of Craftex. Updated , 9 min read
The short answer
A pub conversion in London always needs full planning permission. Pubs are sui generis, so there is no Class MA or other permitted development route to flats, and the council will test whether the pub can survive first.
- No permitted development: a pub can only change to a pub with more food without an application.
- London Plan HC7: the pub marketed as a pub for at least 24 months, at a price set by an independent valuation.
- Asset of Community Value: you notify the council before selling, then wait 6 weeks, or 6 months if a community group bids.
- Flats above a working pub are the likeliest consent, if the pub keeps its cellar, kitchen and garden, and the flats carry the soundproofing.
A pub conversion in London always needs full planning permission. Pubs are sui generis, so there is no Class MA shortcut, and the council will first ask whether the pub can survive as a pub.
That question decides most schemes. The London Plan expects 24 months of marketing as a pub before a loss is accepted. An Asset of Community Value listing can pause a sale for six months. And the building itself hides cellars, shared walls and noise problems a house never has.
This guide is written by our change of use planning permission team, who plan and build conversions under one contract. Thinking about a pub? Get a free route check before you buy, close or market it.
Why every pub conversion needs full planning permission
Since 1 September 2020, pubs, wine bars and drinking establishments have sat outside every use class. They are sui generis, "of their own kind". So is a pub with expanded food.
That has one practical result. No permitted development right turns a pub into homes. The only permitted change is Class AA: a pub can become a pub with more food, and back again.
Class MA does not apply to pubs
Class MA lets a building in Class E become flats through prior approval. It covers shops, offices, cafés and restaurants with at least two years of Class E use. A pub is not in Class E, so the route is closed. Our guide to commercial to residential permitted development explains how Class MA works for the buildings it does cover.
Demolition is not permitted development either
The national right to demolish a building excludes any building used, or last used, as a drinking establishment. So "knock it down and start again" needs an application too.
| Building today | Route to flats | Who decides |
|---|---|---|
| Pub, wine bar or bar, open or closed | Full planning application | The council, on its pub policies |
| Pub with flats or staff rooms above | Full planning application | The council, testing the pub's future |
| Former pub with a lawful Class E use for 2+ years | Class MA prior approval may apply | The council, unless an Article 4 direction removes Class MA |
| Shop or office in Class E | Class MA prior approval | The council, on limited prior approval matters |
The 24-month marketing test under London Plan HC7
London Plan policy HC7 tells boroughs to protect pubs with heritage, cultural, economic or social value. An application that loses such a pub "should be refused" unless authoritative marketing evidence shows no realistic prospect of pub use.
The supporting text sets the bar. The pub should have been marketed as a pub for at least 24 months. The price is agreed after an independent valuation. The building stays in a condition that lets it trade. And it is offered locally and London-wide, through specialist agents.
Which pubs the policy protects
Most London pubs pass at least one of the London Plan value tests. The council looks at whether the pub:
- is in a conservation area or is a listed building
- holds a licence for music, events, film or sport
- is linked to a sports club, or has rooms for hire
- adds to the night-time economy or serves a specific community
Boroughs add their own tests
Each borough's local plan sits on top of HC7. Lambeth's policy ED9 is a clear example. It asks for a viability report, with active marketing over a continuous period of at least 24 months.
Lambeth then asks one more thing. Is there really no prospect of another commercial or community use? Homes come last in that order. Its guidance also wants the pub kept vacant through the campaign, offered free of tie and without restrictive covenants.
A new London Plan went out to consultation from July to October 2026, with adoption expected in 2027. Until then, the 2021 plan and its HC7 tests apply.
Our change of use planning permission team sets the marketing brief with the planning case. The evidence then fits the application it has to support.
Asset of Community Value: the listing and the moratorium
A local community group can nominate a pub as an Asset of Community Value. If the council lists it, the listing lasts five years. It does not stop you owning, running or applying for planning. It controls how and when you sell.
Before selling a listed pub, the owner must notify the council in writing. A six-week interim moratorium follows. If a community group asks to be treated as a bidder, the pause extends to six months.
Why the listing matters in planning too
The London Plan says the right to bid "is not a right to buy". You can turn the bid down. But it also asks boroughs to treat an ACV listing as a material consideration on a change of use. A listed pub starts its application with a visible community case against it.
The law is changing. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 replaces the right to bid with a community right to buy. On 2 November 2026 those changes were not yet in force. Check the regime again before you exchange.
We hired Craftex for a commercial ground floor fit-out with 2 flats above. There were some minor co-ordination hiccups with third-party suppliers but the team kept it moving. Finish quality was strong. Kitchens and doors look great. I have already asked them for a quote on the next project.
Article 4 directions and a pub conversion
An Article 4 direction removes a permitted development right in a defined area. Because a pub has no right to become homes, there is nothing for a direction to take away. National law removed those rights in 2017.
Article 4 still matters in two cases.
- The building already has a lawful Class E use. A former pub consented as a restaurant years ago could, after two years of Class E use, look at Class MA. At least 15 London boroughs have removed Class MA in some areas.
- You plan shared housing. Turning a new flat into a small HMO is caught by the HMO directions in many boroughs. Our list of HMO Article 4 directions in London shows where.
Keeping the ground floor as a pub with flats above
Converting only the upper floors is often the strongest application. The pub keeps trading, and the council keeps the facility HC7 protects. But the policy watches this route closely.
HC7 resists any conversion of upper floors, function rooms or gardens that would compromise the pub's operation or viability. The London Plan names the risk plainly: new residents complain about noise. So the scheme must prove the pub still works with homes above it.
What the council looks for
- Operation: the pub keeps its cellar, kitchen, toilets, deliveries and bin store.
- Space: a function room or beer garden lost to flats can sink the application.
- Access: the flats get their own front door, not a route through the bar.
- Noise: under the Agent of Change policy, the new homes carry the sound insulation, not the pub.
Fire separation shapes the layout too. Approved Document B asks for separate escape routes from the homes and from the pub. Up to three storeys above the ground storey, one stair can serve both. Each floor then needs a protected lobby rated REI 30.
Build issues in a pub conversion: cellars, party walls, sound and fire
Creating flats in a pub is a material change of use under the Building Regulations. The fire, ventilation, drainage, energy and electrical requirements then apply to the whole conversion. So do moisture resistance and sound insulation.
Cellars
Pub cellars were built for barrels, not bedrooms. Expect damp, low ceilings and no daylight. Moisture resistance becomes a legal requirement once the space is a home. On Allitsen Road the basement had 1.8 m of head height. Raising the ground floor made it habitable without digging.
Party walls
Most London pubs share walls with neighbours. Lowering a cellar floor usually means work on the party wall and digging next to it.
Sound
Sound insulation between the flats and the pub has to pass a test. The results go to building control before sign-off. Bass from a jukebox or live music travels through structure, so floors and walls are designed as isolated layers, not just thicker boards.
Fire, services and height
Beer lines, kitchen extract and gas supplies are stripped out and capped. A new fire alarm, fire-stopping and fire doors protect the escape route. Keep the top storey under 11 m where you can: above it, a block of flats needs sprinklers throughout.
Cost and VAT
Our 2026 rate for a commercial to residential conversion is £1,150 to £1,950 per m² of gross internal area, for the build alone. London runs about 9% higher. A pub's cellar, structure and acoustic work push it towards the top of that band.
The builder's work is normally charged at 5% VAT, not 20%. HMRC lists a pub with staff rooms that are not self-contained as a qualifying conversion. Our guide to VAT on conversions covers the zero-rated sale.
What a sui generis club taught us: Allitsen Road
Allitsen Road is not a pub. But the planning problem is the same for any sui generis building, and we costed this one in detail. Allitsen Road in St John's Wood was a vacant former private members' club, bought at auction in 2026.
Like a pub, a club has no automatic route to homes. The council expects sustained evidence that the old use has ended. We built that evidence from the club's trading history, its vacancy record and a properly structured marketing campaign. We planned 12 to 18 months of it into the deal; a London pub usually needs 24.
| Option | Homes | Build cost | GDV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Convert within the existing building | 4 | £1.90M | £4.06M |
| Add a roof storey | 6 | £2.25M | £5.29M |
| Basement by raising the ground floor (recommended) | 6 | £2.51M | £5.87M |
| Basement by excavation | 7 | £2.75M | £6.06M |
We advised against the dearest option. Digging the basement added about £240,000 and three months to win one extra one-bed flat.
The planning money moved even more. Protecting the vacancy history could cut the affordable-housing bill by over £1M through vacant building credit. The Community Infrastructure Levy could swing by six figures on the lawful-use history. A vacant pub raises the same questions.
One team from the planning case to the keys
A pub conversion fails in the gaps. The marketing evidence doesn't match the planning case. The drawings ignore the cellar. The price arrives after consent.
We run the planning strategy, the design and the build as one team, so each decision is priced while it is drawn. Craftex started in 2016 as a carpentry and joinery company, and construction is still our own department. We take on construction from £100,000.
We confirm the route, the evidence the council will want and the likely build cost in one go. Send the address and get a free route check.
Before you exchange or call last orders
- Confirm the lawful use and planning history, including any Class E consent.
- Search the council's Asset of Community Value list and its nominations.
- Read the borough's pub policy and its marketing rules.
- Check conservation area, listing and Article 4 status.
- Measure the cellar head height and look for damp.
- Count the party walls and the neighbours who will get notices.
- Decide early: whole building to homes, or flats above a pub.
- Price the worst case before you exchange.
