Sui Generis (planning use)
Definition
In English planning law, sui generis means a use that fits no standard class and is judged on its own terms. Large-scale purpose-built shared living in London is treated this way — making planning consent slower but also constraining competing supply once a scheme is approved.
Sui generis means a use that does not fall within any standard use class, so it has no permitted development rights and any change to or from it requires a planning application. In shared housing it is triggered in two distinct places.
The first is scale in a house: three to six unrelated sharers is C4, and seven or more is sui generis. The second is scale in a building: in London, Policy H16 of the London Plan and its February 2024 guidance treat large-scale purpose-built shared living — schemes of 50 or more private rooms with shared facilities — as sui generis, routed through a viability-tested process with an affordable housing contribution expected at the equivalent of 35% of units, or 50% on public or eligible industrial land.
That second route is a substantially different consenting path with a different timeline and risk profile, and it is not a decision to take at the end of a design. Many schemes that describe themselves as coliving at pitch stage turn out, once the planning route is priced, to be build-to-rent with amenity — a perfectly good business, and better named accurately.
The common mistake
Designing to a bed count that changes the planning route
The jump from six sharers to seven is not incremental — it moves the property out of use class C4 and into sui generis, which always requires planning permission. Schemes get designed to a bed count that maximises revenue on a spreadsheet and only later discover that the seventh bed changed the consenting route, the timeline and the risk profile of the whole project.
Frequently asked
How many sharers before a property becomes sui generis?+
Seven or more unrelated sharers in England takes a property out of use class C4 and into sui generis, which always requires planning permission. Three to six sharers is C4, which is permitted development from C3 unless an Article 4 direction applies.
Is large-scale coliving sui generis in London?+
Yes. Under London Plan Policy H16 and its February 2024 guidance, schemes of 50 or more private rooms with shared facilities are treated as sui generis and assessed through a viability-tested route, with an affordable contribution expected at the equivalent of 35% of units.
Coliving compliance, the full UK guide
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UK market dossier
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