Ian Walmsley

Hi, It would be the last legal use. Often it is agricultural, unless planning is in place to change the use. Have a look on the local authority website to see if there is any planning. Should be able to find this within the Planning section. The flood risk will make matters rather difficult (sorry missed that in the original post). The issue with barns is that there is usually not an upstairs for people to seek refuge.

If the land is equestrian, then the barn would not qualify at this time. If the land never had permission to be equestrian, then it might stil be agricultural. The issue however is that even if it was, I suspect that the barn has been used for non agricultural purposes and therefore that also rules it out for now. I have said for now above, as we may see a change in legislation that could well bring the barn into contention. This news item details my thoughts on what might happen. As for timescale, I now think it could be spring time. Unless you have other uses for the land, I wouldn't buy now. However you could start the process to purchase but delay it until we know what is happening. What I wouldn't advise is telling the agent or the vendor about any potential changes. If and when the time comes, we would be happy to assist you with the application.

Hi, If you alter your display name or if we upgrade your account, please either wait patiently for an hour or two or to force the change straight away - log out and back in. This may also apply if you alter your membership level.

I intend to ramp up the number of news items on the main site. You are now able to comment on these items. https://www.planninggeek.co.uk/topics/news/

Following a couple of months testing, I am now ready to open the forums to everyone! The Facebook Group will remain, but not everyone is on Facebook! You can join the forums and indeed the site for free. Please note that your first couple of posts/replies will be subject to moderation. Then you will automatically become a full member. This is to prevent any spammers automatically posting. We also have a couple of paid tiers. Anonymous Posts Whilst we do not encourage anonymous posts, we do appreciate that some people may wish to login and post anonymously. This option will cost £5 per month. This nominal cost covers the additional work involved behind the scenes to ensure that the option is not abused by spammers. You can always return to the free tier at any time or upgrade to the Premium Members. Gold Members Whilst this does cost £25 per month I will be offering potential savings from insurance, software, finance and much more which will far exceed the £25 per month. This will be rolled out over the next week or three. Don't worry you can always upgrade at any time. You will also get 10% of any Planning Geek Courses - this alone will save you more than a month's fee. Gold members will also have their own dedicated forum with premium support. You can sign up for the site here. By default when you join your display name is set to 'FirstName Surname' - you may update this to have a custom display name by going to this page. Please note that this might not be reflected immediately on the forums. Please allow up to a couple of hours. If you alter your display name or if we upgrade your account, please either wait patiently for an hour or two or to force the change straight away - log out and back in. This may also apply if you alter your membership level. Despite extensive testing, there are always the odd bug or two that slips through - so any issues please let me know. Much more is planned, so watch this space!

This is still Use Class E if it is a café that serves alcohol in addition to the food etc. Unfortunately whoever said that you required planning was incorrect. The hours are only limited if you use the planning permission granted. However I have to agree that the Licencing folks may limit you now if they see the planning permission. The only reason why it might have needed planning is if it was actually use class F2 as a local shop with nothing similar within 1km

You do not need planning to go from a shop to a café as both are Use Class E, unless there was originally a restriction on the planning for the shop. There wouldn't be any conditions then. Licencing is separate and may restrict hours etc. for alcohol.

Submitted and paid for. However it should be a valid application. Therefore if it meets the validation requirements it should be fine. I guess it depends whether the drawings requested are on the validation list. If not, then I would push back.

You will get conflicting information. Sadly. First of all check to see whether the garage had full planning in the first place and if it did was there any condition that it must remain as a garage. You can use any outbuilding for a use that is incidental to the main dwelling. Whilst many might say a bedroom is fine, the planning guidance says So I have tended to go down the line of a change of use is required, although I also accept in many cases that the use of an out building as a bedroom is just fine. I think what is fine is guest accommodation as this is not primary living accommodation in my personal view. What I will say is that I am aware of cases where the inspectorate said it was fine, after the council tried to enforce. And I am aware of councils not being worried at all about such circumstances. I know what I would do if it was my garage.

I don't see why not. But then I am not an expert in that. I wonder if @HowardHighwaysGuy knows....

Government to consult on the ability to split a house into two flats. My early thoughts on the ability to split a house into two flats and what was announced today. https://www.planninggeek.co.uk/2023/government-to-consult-on-new-pd-right-to-split-a-house-into-two-flats/

Planning fees within England are to be raised by 35% for major applications and 25% for all other applications from 6th December 2023 You can see various example of the new fees by going to https://www.planninggeek.co.uk/2023/planning-fees-increase-date-confimed/ We will also see the end of the 'Free Go', however this will remain for 12 months for any application made under the old fees (i.e submitted on or before 5th December 2023) Planning Geek is able to submit applications for you. Please use the fee proposal form.

Thanks for the message @Steve Wreford If the land qualifies for Class E of Part 6, then I suspect that it will not qualify for Class Q. Unless it was a different planning unit.

I would only apply if you need to. You will continue to build up evidence in the meantime. However if you would like us to assist you with the certificate you are welcome to fill in the form here

If the caravan has been on the land for 10 years beyond any condition (i.e. Expiry of the planning) then it might be beyond enforcement by the local authority. However that doesn't guarantee planning unfortunately.

Hi, Welcome to the forums. You will need to persue this with enforcement. Send them any evidence that you might have. You can also request the involvement of your elected representatives. This could well be on four levels - parish or town councillors, local authority councillors and county councillors, plus your Member of Parliament. I guess am email to the members of the planning committee as well can't do any harm If noise is a problem, then that would be environmental health at the local authority. Do a search for noise complaint <your local authority> Hope that helps

Thanks for the question, and welcome to the new forums. 'Height” - references to height (for example, the heights of the eaves on a house extension) is the height measured from ground level. (Note, ground level is the surface of the ground immediately adjacent to the building in question, and would not include any addition laid on top of the ground such as decking. Where ground level is not uniform (for example if the ground is sloping), then the ground level is the highest part of the surface of the ground next to the building.) Source of definition In other words wherever you put the outbuilding, the wall on the lowest part of the land, may well be higher than the maximum allowed under Class E of Part 1 as you measure from the highest point. https://PlanningGeek.co.uk/outbuildings

Hi, Thanks for the message and welcome to the forums. At the moment we do not know when the changes will happen or what they might be. I wrote an article back in August based on the information that I am aware of. You can read that at https://www.planninggeek.co.uk/2023/permitted-development-changes/ But until the legislation is published we will not know if all these proposals will happen or some of them etc. Once I do know, I will publish it on Planning Geek.

New PD right from today for RAAC affected schools - posting in case it is of interest https://www.planninggeek.co.uk/gpdo/temporary-buildings-uses/class-cb/ We are now at 27 updates to the GPDO 2015 if this is of any interest, the full details are on the page linked above.