Turn disused, agricultural out buildings into lavish home set in the country side
Barn Conversions
With the planning laws ever relaxing around converting barns or agricultural buildings, it is increasingly easy to unlock massive value uplift and create beautiful earthy homes in rural areas. Barns come in a variety of sizes and shapes, which gives us architectural designers a big job to do in making spaces work. Our team have carried out conversion projects all over Scarborough and the rest of the UK alike, giving us the experience and the skills that your project needs to really become what it has the potential to be, combining historic character with the best in architectural design.
Contact us today for more information about our barn conversion services
CK Architectural
How do i get started with my project? View our tried and tested 5 step process!
Gaining planning permission
Even though some conversions have had the planning laws relaxed in England and Wales in 2014, there are still many boxes to tick to allow for open countryside development. Changing the use of farm buildings to create homes is now allowed as permitted development (PD). This means express planning permission isn’t needed; although there is a ‘Prior Notification’ procedure to go through.
You can only then work within the existing structure and there must be some form of access and infrastructure. The total floor space of the finished house must not exceed 450m2, for example. And PD status does not extend to listed buildings or designated zones, such as conservation areas and national parks. A sympathetic and sensitive approach to design and construction ensuring the original character remains intact is the right way forward. Other issues need to be in place such as biodiversity reports for bats, owls, newts, and some birds.
Key factors
- The site must have been used solely for agricultural use historically.
- If the site is subject to an agricultural tenancy, landowners must have the express consent of their tenants.
- The total floorspace of your barn to be converted must be no more than 450m² – if the barn is bigger, you’ll only be able to convert to a maximum of 450m².
- The barn must have existed prior to the 20th March 2013 (no building new barns). New barns can be built and converted into homes but must exist as solely agricultural buildings for at least 10 years.
- If bigger then the 450m² can be divided into three separate dwellings.
Planning to building regulations
Barn conversions are subject to the same rules as any new build, you will need to provide the following:
- SAP calculations: this will design the energy efficiency of the home and give requirement for insulation and heating performance.
- The building will need to be assessed for structural stability.
- Sound testing will be required on completion but all construction elements affecting sound need to be detailed and built in accordance with approved plans.
All other documents of the building regulations will need to be checked via full plans approval prior to commencing.
After addressing all of this carefully, we will provide you with a detailed set of building regulation drawings that will allow you to tender if you wish and give you a guide for the build.
From that point, you can move forward with your barn conversion project to choose a builder to carry out the work as you see fit, or alternatively, carry out a project management service like ours where we’ll do this for you and manage the whole thing.
