NEW permitted development rights on farms may have removed one element of planning difficulty but they have swiftly delivered another of a different sort.
Farmers and rural landowners who now think they have carte blanche to go ahead converting certain buildings into up to three homes must realise that exercising the right could stifle farm development for the next decade.
John Henniker-Major, chairman and Northampton-based rural expert for the national property consultancy, Carter Jonas, warned that converting existing buildings into residential units under new permitted development (PD
NEW permitted development rights on farms may have removed one element of planning difficulty but they have swiftly delivered another of a different sort.
Farmers and rural landowners who now think they have carte blanche to go ahead converting certain buildings into up to three homes must realise that exercising the right could stifle farm development for the next decade.
John Henniker-Major, chairman and Northampton-based rural expert for the national property consultancy, Carter Jonas, warned that converting existing buildings into residential units under new permitted development (PD) rules because they are unsuitable for current farming needs, will remove for a decade the PD rights traditionally enjoyed on farms to put up structures such as barns, grain stores and some livestock buildings.
“It’s all very well to think that the new rights will release buildings for new uses but exercising these rights must be balanced against the future needs of the farm”, explained John Henniker-Major. “Planning ahead for possible business changes on the farm will be critical before any decision to convert existing buildings because they cannot then be replaced with anything more suitable via agricultural PD rights, although the scheme may be successful via a full planning application.
“While converting a building into a new home of up to 450 square metres seems attractive, especially when it allows retiring owners to continue to live on the farm after handing over the enterprise to the next generation, the business could be constrained from moving forward as a result.
“My advice is to assess the farms and estates for potential development sites, including taking account of the new rights, but then to primarily consider a full planning application using the argument of PD rights to back up the planning position.
“This is a live issue on a number of estates. The legislation is not clear as it does not define the agricultural holding when using the PD rights. So converting a building could seriously stifle the prospects of developing other parts of the business. This is already becoming a concern and preventing landowners from doing what on face value the Government was trying to encourage.
“The main concern is that following previous press coverage, farmers who do not take a land agent’s advice may move forward with a PD proposal only to find that they have lost their agricultural PD rights, potentially limiting the value of the rest of the farm in the future.”
For further details, contact 01604 608211 or visit the website www.carterjonas.co.uk