Planning Approval for Conversions

1. Take Nothing for Granted.

There is a natural tendency to assume that any vacant building is fair game for conversion to a house. However, different local authorities have different planning policies about what they will and won’t allow to be converted. Converting a barn into a house could be accepted on one side of the road, but the same proposal could be refused on the other if it happens to fall within a different district. So buying a nonresidential redundant building of any kind with a view to conversion will be a bit risky in some locations and total madness in others. Where possible, do your homework by approaching local planning authorities informally before you commit to purchase — the use of ‘option’ agreements minimises your risk by committing you to purchase the barn upon receipt of planning approval.

2. Commercial Use is Preferred

An increasing number of local councils in rural areas, with support from the Government, will try to prevent residential conversions. For example, a redundant school, church or community hall might in physical terms be capable of being converted to a house but in some local authorities they would want proof that the building could not be used for a commercial, business or other alternative community use. Only if it can be proven – following a sustained marketing campaign – that such an alternative would not be viable might they allow the change of use to residential. In other local authority areas they may be more relaxed and permission might be granted quite easily. So if you’re looking at a conversion opportunity, take nothing for granted in terms of the planning policy background; if you can’t afford to take the risk then only buy subject to getting the planning permission you need.

3. Pay Attention to Structural Condition

It sounds like stating the obvious but to convert a building it needs to be physically capable of being converted. I have had experience of barns that have collapsed and other buildings that have been accidentally demolished. The result is the total loss of the planning permission; the hapless owner is left with a bit of field and nothing to convert. Many local authorities will require a full structural survey with an application for conversion, so they are satisfied it will not need to be rebuilt.

4. Planners Have Expensive Tastes

Undertaking a conversion and renovation project is expensive; it may seem contrary to common sense but it is usually cheaper to build from scratch. So there is a danger of being over-optimistic about the costs of conversion. Planning requirements can make it even more expensive if you are dealing with a historic building. The use of high-quality materials, bespoke joinery, cast iron rainwater goods and so on can all be required by planning conditions and they do not need your agreement to require them. If a building is listed then conversion may still be possible but the range of additional costs and time delays can be very hard to predict. The conservation officer at the council will have a key role and can add vast amounts to your building costs on a whim — so be sure to open up a dialogue with the planners early on in the process in order to minimise your unknown expenditure.

5. Consider Future Extensions

Once your barn or other non-residential building has permission as a dwelling and it has been converted, in planning policy terms it then becomes a dwelling. So the highly restrictive approach adopted initially – sometimes preventing extensions and new windows – is likely to relax. You may also have Permitted Development Rights that you can use to improve the property. So when designing a small conversion remember that once it is permitted and built, future enlargements are a real possibility — it should influence your approach with the initial planning application, meaning that you don’t have to be as controversial. This situation may, of course, not apply to listed buildings or those in green belt locations.

6. Get a Clear Vision for the Design

The first principle of a residential barn conversion is that the resulting house should look as much like a barn as possible. The logic behind this policy is that the only reason for a house being allowed is because it is keeping the existing, presumably attractive, agricultural building. Turn that into something that looks too much like a house and bang goes the justification. This can create design opportunities – such as large glass-filled cart shed door openings – but it can also restrict the amount of light available to other minor rooms, as the size and number of new windows is limited. Listed buildings are always far more sensitive but the conversion of unlisted schools or churches can create fewer planning and design problems. I would advise making a decision fairly early on as to whether to go with a modern or traditional approach to design. The designer can then work on that basis; it is rarely successful to mix-and-match.

7. Is the Plot Big Enough?

The building you are looking at may be fine, structurally capable and big enough for your needs. But where does the red line go on the planning permission for its conversion? This line is important because it defines the area covered by the change of use to ‘residential’ — in other words, the size of the garden. There are some wonderful residential conversion opportunities blighted by unrealistically small and restricted garden areas. It is especially a real danger in protected rural locations where planners have sought to restrict the impact of the change of use. So make sure a barn conversion has a garden that’s big enough, because the change of use of agricultural land to garden needs permission, and it probably won’t get it.

8. Beware of Churches

Converting a church is a possibility – there seem to be a lot for sale in Scotland – but things can get very complicated if you want to remove gravestones. If it is listed then consent will be needed to remove fixtures and fittings from within the building itself — fancy a large crucifix in the living room? So be sure that you have the normal planning considerations sorted out plus the ecclesiastical regulations concerning deconsecration — or you may have to put up with the disconcerting experience of people visiting graves in your garden. You can get further advice on church conversions from the Church Commissioners’ website – along with a list of potential churches for sale – at www.cofe.anglican.org.

9. A Halfway House

Because many local authorities try and keep commercial buildings or community buildings in some employment use, if you can’t get permission for a straightforward private dwelling you might get it for holiday accommodation. This may not be what you want but if you are building a second home such a restriction wouldn’t normally prevent your use of it.

10. Study the Existing Approval

You may see houses for sale created out of converted buildings that are restricted to holiday home use. Sometimes these restrictions are not as draconian as they appear — sometimes they have no teeth. For example, if someone has permission for a restricted holiday home but they have been renting it out as a private dwelling for more than four years, it is immune from any action the local authority can take against it being used as simply a dwelling. Equally if a holiday home was permitted as a conversion but then not built in strict accordance with the plans it may represent an unauthorised development. So, provided it has been built and completed for more than four years, any planning conditions will no longer apply.