Why a Barn Conversion?

Our clients loved the idea of re-purposing a barn that had been in their family for a long time, and creating their own home. Barn conversions offer a great way to create a unique, well-designed home that is full of character, often being able to benefit from ample natural lighting with large windows and barn-style doors, the features of a barn conversion are wonderful!

Some barn conversion can also take place under Class Q, only needing Prior Approval from your Local Planning Authority, and not a full planning application. There are certain conditions that must be met to be eligible for a barn conversion under Class Q, some of these include:

• The project relates to the conversion of an agricultural building into a residential dwelling
• There must be existing access to a public highway from the existing building that is suitable for a standard car (unfortunately it isn’t acceptable for just a large 4x4!)
• The maximum number of dwellings created on any one agricultural holding is 10 (this can be from the conversion of one agricultural building or multiple, but the amount of proposed residential dwellings cannot exceed 10. For example, you could have 3 agricultural buildings and create 4 dwellings from one, 3 from another, and 3 from the last.)
• The building must already be structurally capable of functioning as a dwelling (if you had to rebuild 3 of the 4 walls to achieve a habitable building, this would not fall under Class Q)
• Class Q does not apply to Listed Buildings (or their curtilage), conservation areas, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), National Parks, The Broads or World Heritage Sites (WHS).

As you can see, although you may not require a full planning application, you need to be sure that a barn conversion meets these criteria before submitting a prior approval application, in circumstances where the answer is not quite clear, then Pre-Application Advice can be sought from the Local Planning Authority.

A new update to Class Q Legislation in June 2024 means that not only can you convert an agricultural building to a residential dwelling, but you can also include a 4m single storey rear extension as part of the Class Q Prior Approval application as long as there is existing hard-standing on which the extension would sit, and also the extension must be developed at the same time as the Class Q conversion.

Submission to the Local Planning Authority

As this application was submitted before the changes mentioned above, we submitted a full planning application for this project, as we also made the addition of a 4.5m single storey rear extension to the barn to create a new utility and shower room. This now meant that our clients have the benefit of a ‘new build’ but with the character and aesthetics of the agricultural barn!

Even if a barn conversion is submitted under a Prior Approval Application there are still a number of factors for the Local Planning Authority to consider, such as:

• The impact on highways
• The noise impact of the conversion
• Contamination risks
• Flood risks – it is quite probable that a Flood Risk Assessment will be required if you are in South Lincolnshire or surrounding areas as these are high flood risk zones
• The design and overall external appearance of the building
• The location/siting of the existing building – there must be suitable existing access to a public highway from the existing building

A crucial document that we were asked to provide for this application was a Preliminary Ecological Appraisal (PEA), to ensure that there were no forms of wildlife, such as bats, birds or other protected species, residing in the agricultural building. It can be common for bats to roost over the winter in barns and other farm buildings, and a PEA can rule out any harm to wildlife which could come from a barn conversion.

Planning Permission Granted

Planning permission was only recently granted for this lovely barn conversion and extension, and we cannot wait to see the transformation of this agricultural building into a wonderful home that is bursting with character! We received positive feedback regarding our thoughtful design and the decision to retain existing features of the barn such as the large door, and the use of our 3D architectural visualisations really enabled planning officers to visualise how this barn will be transformed and enabled them to make a more informed decision.

We can help you to transform your old agricultural buildings into a bespoke, distinctive home, please do get in touch today.

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