- Year:2025
- Location: London
- Role: Planning consultant
- Collaborator: ili architects, Aardvark Planning Law
Establishing Commercial Use (Class E) After Long Term Vacancy
Mass + Strategy (previous name Path 3) successfully secured a Certificate of Lawfulness (Existing Use) for a Grade II listed building in Central London, confirming its lawful Class E commercial use after almost 10 years of vacancy. The property carried a complicated mixed-use record—A1, A3, B1(a), and hints of informal residential occupation—creating uncertainty around its lawful status.
We conducted a detailed planning history reconstruction, identifying the critical 2012 St Giles Circus consent, which established restaurant use across all floors. We strengthened the case with a comprehensive evidence package: historic lease records, a sworn statement, council tax termination data, and photographic evidence demonstrating strip-out works and abandonment of any residential occupation.
Camden Council accepted the evidence and granted the CLEUD, providing the client with planning certainty for leasing, fit-out, and future commercial operations.
