The Government is relaxing planning rules to allow pubs and restaurants to operate as hot-food takeaways. 

As part of a raft of Government measures announced in the last 24 hours to deal with the unprecedented social and economic impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Minister for Housing, Communities and Local Government has announced that the Government will relax planning rules to allow pubs and restaurants to operate as hot-food takeaways. While we await publication of the draft legislation, we anticipate that this will take the form of a temporary permitted development right for the change of use of either a pub (use class A4/A3) or Restaurant/Café (Use Class A3) to a mixed use with hot-food takeaways (Class A5).

Although a number of pubs, restaurants and cafés up and down the country will need to consider the practicalities of adapting their businesses in this way, the announcement should be viewed as welcome breathing space for an industry that is in the grips of an unprecedented crisis of demand. 

We will provide more details on this, as and when these details are available.