Government policy recognises that traditional farm buildings make an important contribution to the countryside, and when they become redundant in farming terms another use should be found for them. They have established what you might call a hierarchy of acceptable uses, with conversion to dwellings at the highest and most difficult end.

What ever the use, to be acceptable farm buildings must continue to look like farm buildings; extra windows would give the game way, though roof lights are often allowed. Likewise chimneys need to be unobtrusive. Conversion to workshops is one of the easiest options; offices are considerably more difficult to get permission for. Holiday accommodation is preferred to permanent residences.

You, as owner, have to weigh up what is an acceptable use in each situation, whether there is a market for it, and whether it adds up financially. Your thought process will probably run well ahead of the local authority and there is a danger of committing money and effort only to be thwarted by the ponderous machinery of government. In one case we know locally the owner had invested a considerable sum in plans for office conversion only to learn that the highway authority would resist them on the grounds of extra traffic debouching onto a fast road. The architect hadn’t expected a problem here. Would we have foreseen it? I hope so, and with each case we handle we learn more of the pitfalls.

Andrew Large
BSc (Hons) MRICS FAAV
ALP Surveyors Ltd