The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Money
How to find a dream barn: hard work – or good luck
Agricultural conversions are more popular than ever, so you must be savvy to track down a place to build your dream home, says Arabella Youens
Converting a barn into a home has long been a dream for many. But with the pandemic-fuelled rush to the countryside, soaring prices in rural areas and the subsequent lack of homes for sale, more would-be buyers are investing in a project rather than a ready-made house.
It is particularly attractive because of strict planning rules, said Mark Richards of Savills, the estate agent.
“As it’s almost impossible to build a new house in the middle of the countryside, converting a barn is about the only way to achieve the dream of living in the middle of nowhere,” he said.
In the recent Telegraph Homebuilding & Renovating Awards, many of the winners had used so- called Class Q permitted development rights to convert an agricultural building into a home. The number of conversions using this route has increased every year since it was introduced in 2014, said Claire Shannon of estate agency Cheffins. Such a conversion is a way to own a unique home in a rural position without the concerns of ceiling heights and low- flying beams that come with cottages, or the price tags of larger country houses. Changes that come in next month add more flexibility to the rules.
Richard Clayson’s conversion of a derelict barn in East Sussex was recognised for its sustainable credentials in the recent awards. He and his partner, Lucy Dunn, an artist, stumbled on the stone-built barn with two outbuildings at either end in 2015.
“The original intention was to do up an older house,” said Mr Clayson, a chartered surveyor. He set off to visit some properties in the East Sussex countryside that he’d found online when serendipity, or a satnav error, took him the wrong way.
“I realised that I’d gone wrong, turned around and then spotted a ‘For Sale’ sign, so I parked and walked down the drive. A barn owl flew out of the main barn when I arrived. That was the moment for me.”
The barn cost £480,000, a high price considering its condition but reflecting the fact it already had planning permission in place to convert it into a home. The project took nine months to complete, with a budget of
Askham Richard
£310,000. From the outset Mr Clayson wanted the house to be as carbon neutral as possible. The house now saves him between £3,000 and £4,000 a year in heating costs.
HOW TO FIND A BARN The years-long vogue for barn conversion means that untouched buildings are hard to come by in the most soughtafter areas. But there are barns waiting to be converted – you just need to look harder. Even in hotly contested countryside such as the Cotswolds, home to picture-postcard barns built in the alluring honey-coloured stone, they are available, said Jonathan Bramwell of buying agent The Buying Solution. “You have to do a bit of work to find them as the obvious ones have gone,” he added.
Changes to farmers’ subsidy payments, in part thanks to Brexit changes, mean many are looking to diversify, which is leading to more agricultural buildings being put on the market. “Some farmers are looking to raise capital and are selling off buildings they no longer need,” said Mr Bramwell.
Finding a suitable barn to convert requires a bit of legwork – or luck – as Mr Clayson’s experience demonstrates. Driving around the area of interest is important, or simply knock on farmers’ doors for a direct approach. Snapping up a barn without planning permission could be a great investment, as those with prior approval increase in value by around six-fold, according to Ms Shannon, even if the owner is to sell them on.
Estate agent Robert Pritchard of Pritchard & Company, which covers the north Cotswolds and south Warwickshire, recommended websites such as barnsetc.co.uk ( which sells barns and other unusual rural properties including churches), plotbrowser. com, uklandandfarms.co.uk, as well as more obvious property portals.
‘Some farmers are looking to raise capital and are selling off barns they no longer need’
ROAD TO CONVERSION As a rule of thumb, barns ripe for conversion fall into two categories: the traditional and the ugly ( workaday, steel-framed structures built within the past 100 years; Dutch barns are a good example). The first type are typically old stone or brick-built barns which have become redundant either because the size of farm machinery has grown, so it no longer fits inside, or animal welfare standards have improved.
Barns will vary in aesthetic according to region. Timber barns are predominantly found in the south and east of the country, while stone barns (which are the most expensive to convert) are more common in the west and north and tend to feature small openings for doors and windows.
The same is often true of brick barns.
Converting these traditional agricultural buildings into homes requires planning permission. The good news is that it’s easier now to do it than before.
“Years ago, this was a difficult area as the buildings are often miles away from services, but the planning policy now states that homes need to be provided in the countryside and this is one way of meeting that demand,” said Mr Richards.
Each local authority has a different policy but, generally, if converting a disused barn will enhance the setting and it has existing doors and windows, it’s reasonable to assume it will go through, provided the design approach is sensitive. This even includes listed barns.
The second way in is through Class Q permitted development rights. While this doesn’t require planning permission, there is a separate process that stipulates a list of criteria; it’s a strict “no” to any barns that are in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
“Bear in mind that you are limited in terms of gardens, and the footprint of the original building can
not be extended,” said Mr Richards.
David Smith of estate agency Myddelton & Major, which covers west Hampshire and Wiltshire, is selling former poultry sheds in Over Wallop, a village between Salisbury and Andover. While they have Class Q consent, he expects that the buyer will want to start again and seek full planning permission.
THINK OF THE RESALE VALUE The caveat for anyone who invests in a barn conversion is to bear in mind who might be the next owner, said Gary Hammond of estate agency Hamptons “Barn conversions are like Marmite, you either love them or hate them. This has always been the case because they can be very quirky, they can’t be moved from their farmyard position and often have small gardens.”
While dramatic double- height ceilings make a good impression as backgrounds on Zoom calls, the openplan nature of converted barns does not make for ideal working from home conditions for those who need quiet and privacy. Mr Bramwell added: “Most people will do a conversion for their own purposes, but if it’s very individual the issue is how to resell when the time comes.”