Service
Planning consultancy
Help to understand and present the planning position before a children’s home proceeds.
Many children’s homes with shift-based staff are treated by local planning authorities as a change of use, often argued as Class C2 rather than a dwellinghouse in Class C3. Class C3 includes, in defined circumstances, a household of up to six people living together with care. Which class applies depends on the facts: numbers, whether people live as one household, and whether staff live in or work shifts. The local planning authority decides. We do not.
Ofsted will want to understand that planning position. We help you assemble it: the description of the use, the material you need from the care side, and the discipline of asking the authority rather than hoping. Permission, a lawful development certificate, or a refusal are all possible outcomes.
Who it is for
- Providers with a building and an unsettled planning position.
- Landlords who have been asked to let a house to a care provider.
- Applicants who have been told “you do not need permission” and have nothing in writing.
What it addresses
- An application to Ofsted is ready, and planning is a sentence that says “to follow”.
- The care model in the planning statement does not match the statement of purpose.
- Neighbours are hearing about the home for the first time from a planning notice.
- Someone is relying on a general rule they found online, and this borough’s record is different.
How the work runs
- Describe the use Numbers, staffing pattern, shift or residential staff, and how the household will live. This description has to match the care documents.
- Identify the route A planning application, a certificate of lawfulness, or a conversation with the authority first. We explain the options. We do not pick a guaranteed winner.
- Prepare the care evidence What the planning statement needs from the provider, written so a planning officer can read it.
- Submit with your adviser Where a formal planning agent is instructed, we supply the care content and check it against the statement of purpose. The authority’s decision is the end of the process, whichever way it goes.
What you need in place
- The address and any planning history you already know.
- A stable description of the care model. Changing it mid-application is how statements contradict each other.
- Acceptance that the authority can say no, and that a refusal is information, not a service failure.
What you leave with
- A planning-position note in plain English.
- Care content for a planning statement or certificate application.
- A check that the care description matches the statement of purpose.
Time and fees
There is no standard duration. The regulator, the planning authority and the condition of the service all change the timetable. We will describe what we can see, and we will not promise a date.
The fee is agreed once we understand the work. A short review and a full registration are different assignments, so we do not publish one price for every enquiry.
Questions
Do you guarantee planning permission?
No. The local planning authority decides. We will not quote a success rate, because we do not invent one.
Is a certificate the same as permission?
No. A lawful development certificate asks the authority to confirm that permission is not required. Permission grants a change. They are different applications, and either can be refused.
Does Ofsted grant planning permission?
No. Ofsted and the planning authority are separate. You can be stuck with one even when the other is content.
Will every children’s home need a C2 permission?
No. The use class turns on the facts and on the authority’s judgement. Shift-based homes are often pursued as C2. Some providers explore C3(b). We set the facts out and let the proper application test them.
Next step
Send the address, the number of children, and whether staff will sleep in or work shifts. That is enough for a first view of how tangled the question is.
Talk to FivewaysRelated
Fiveways Advisory is an independent consultancy. We are not Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission or a local planning authority, and this website is not legal, planning or regulatory advice. We cannot guarantee registration, an inspection judgement or planning permission.