Housing Minister Dominic Raab has announced that rural communities will be given more options to convert agricultural buildings into family homes to better meet local housing needs through planning rule changes
Changes to permitted development rights will mean up to 5 new homes can be created from existing agricultural buildings on a farm rather than the maximum of 3 currently permitted.
Currently several hundred new homes each year are created through conversions of agricultural buildings, and these changes are expected to boost these numbers further.
The changes will help communities make the best use of existing buildings to help meet local housing needs more efficiently, while at the same time ensuring they remain in keeping with the character of the area and safeguard people’s privacy.
The government is also giving applicants an extra year to convert further storage and distribution buildings into new homes that will help relieve local housing pressures.
Raab said: “We need to be more creative if we are to meet the housing needs of rural communities.
“That’s why I’m changing planning rules so rural communities have more flexibility on how best to use existing buildings to deliver more much needed homes for families.
“This is part of our comprehensive reform programme to build the homes Britain needs.”
The new measures will also help farmers adopt the latest innovations in modern farming practices by increasing the size limit of new agricultural buildings on larger farms from 465 square metres to 1,000 square metres.
