Proposed changes to agricultural permitted development rights could sow the seeds for change on farms in England, a property expert says.
The UK is facing a national shortage of good quality and affordable homes, and a raft of new measures have been suggested to stop unnecessary planning red tape slowing down the delivery of new properties.
One of the ways the government is proposing to make the planning system more efficient and effective to overcome the shortfall in housing supply is by amending permitted development (PD) rights.
Some of these proposed changes apply to agricultural permitted development and, if made law, new legislation will allow farmers to diversify buildings and deliver new housing on their land without the need for a long planning process.
Suzanne Tucker, partner at Shropshire law firm FBC Manby Bowdler, discusses what farmers need to know about the proposed new rules which were consulted on in the Autumn.
The first planned changes are to the size and number of Class Q homes (agricultural buildings converted into dwellings) which can be delivered by a farmer.
This will allow more homes to be delivered, and expand the type and location of buildings that can benefit from the right as well as extending the scope of works that can be undertaken.
The proposals are that regulations be simplified to a single maximum floorspace of either 100 or 150sqm per home, while the maximum number of homes per agricultural unit increases from 5 to 10 and an overall maximum floorspace changing use of 1000sqm.
This encourages farmers to deliver a greater number of smaller homes on their land, by re-using existing buildings and thereby reducing the pressure to build homes on greenfield sites.
It's worth noting that whatever building farmers would like to convert into a dwelling must be suitable for conversion. Full demolition and rebuild is not allowed.
Permitted works for a barn conversion include things like the installation or replacement of windows and doors or adding water, drainage, gas and electricity supplies.
The proposed PD rights changes suggest that rear extensions to Class Q conversions be allowed.
Previously, any increase in the size of the original agricultural building was not allowed but this could be waved through in the future.
This would allow single storey extensions of up to 4m to the back of a building if the land is already hard-surfaced (for example if it’s a farmyard), with any extension falling within the overall floorspace limit.
Whatever dwellings farmers have planned, the existing agricultural building must comply with minimum space standards (a floorspace of 37sqm) before being granted permission to be developed.
The proposed new Class Q PD rights could be extended to apply to National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty with a view to delivering more rural homes in such locations through the re-use of underused buildings.
The proposed allowance for rear extensions would not apply in these locations and World Heritage Sites are not included within the areas benefitting from this proposed expansion of the PD rights.
Changes to PD rights seek to bring back into use agricultural buildings which are no longer part of an established unit.
In the past, these buildings would have been excluded from PD rights, but under the proposed changes, planning for a change of use could be granted permission, for example for a barn which was once part of a working farm, but is no longer part of the main agricultural unit.
There are also proposed changes to the PD rights allowing changes of use of buildings from agricultural to commercial use (Class R).
This includes extending the legislation to buildings currently used for forestry or equestrian use, and to allow different uses – for example outdoor sports or fitness use or the processing of raw goods as well as allowing a mix of uses and a doubling of the allowable floorspace to 1,000sqm.
Farmers may want to extend or build more properties on-farm for agricultural use, and under the proposed changes, there could be greater flexibility to do this.
