Once you’re attempting to find a constructing plot, it’s straightforward to suppose you’ll stumble throughout a neat patch of grass with planning permission already sorted and providers ready on the boundary.
In actuality, that just about by no means occurs and as a rule, the very best alternatives are hidden in plain sight – outdated garages, barns, and even, in constructing professional Mark Stevenson’s case, a disused submit workplace.
However earlier than you tackle any piece of land to your self construct venture, it’s important to know how land is designated and what which means for planning. It’s not nearly recognizing potential – it’s about figuring out what’s doable (and what’s not) underneath planning guidelines.
What are land designations?
Land designation is mainly how an area council classifies totally different items of land inside planning insurance policies and inside its improvement plan. These designations decide what the land can legally be used for, for instance, residential, business, agricultural, leisure, or protected area and so on.
From a planning perspective, these designations are extremely necessary as a result of they set out what the council will or gained’t approve. If the land isn’t designated for housing, getting planning permission for a house might be something from troublesome to utterly not possible.
Which land designations are appropriate for residential improvement?
Usually talking, land that’s already in residential use or allotted for housing in a council’s Native Plan is the simplest to work with. These websites are normally thought-about acceptable in precept for improvement.
Different probably appropriate designations embrace:
- Brownfield websites: These are plots that had beforehand had buildings on them or had a business use. Below latest nationwide planning insurance policies, councils are likely to favour redeveloping brownfield land for housing, significantly in cities and villages
- City and village infill plots: These are small gaps inside established settlements, which may generally be developed, relying on scale and context
- Class Q conversions: Agricultural buildings that match the standards set out for a category Q conversion comparable to barns
Which land designations will not be appropriate for housing?
Some land designations are a lot more durable to construct on. Difficult examples embrace;
- Agricultural land: Except you’re constructing a home for a farm employee, you’ll battle to get permission to construct a house on farmland. Native Plans normally defend agricultural land from residential improvement
- Open countryside: Land that sits exterior of a settlements improvement boundary is known as open countryside and encroachment on it’s usually frowned upon
- Flood zones: If the land is at excessive danger of flooding comparable to flood zone 3, the possibilities of securing planning consent are slim. You’ll want flood danger assessments, mitigation plans, and even then, housing should be refused if there’s a greater location
- Inexperienced Belt: Improvement is strictly managed, and also you’ll want very particular circumstances to construct, and a brand new house on beforehand undeveloped land not often qualifies
- Protected employment land: Councils safeguard land for financial use like workshops or workplaces. They’re unlikely to approve housing on these websites except you’ll be able to show the employment use is now not viable.
When will residential improvement be refused?
Councils refuse residential schemes for all kinds of causes, but when the land is clearly designated for an additional objective, particularly employment or agriculture, you’re on the again foot from the beginning. Different refusal triggers embrace:
- Lack of entry or highways objections
- Hurt to native character or conservation areas
- Influence on neighbouring properties
- Ecological or environmental considerations
- Incompatibility with the Native Plan or Neighbourhood Plan
If you happen to’re working with a web site that’s exterior a settlement boundary or seeking to construct in a chosen space comparable to Inexperienced Belt or an Space of Excellent Pure Magnificence, you’ll want a really robust case, in any other case refusal is almost certainly.
How one can change using land
Altering using a bit of land to residential isn’t only a case of asking properly and hoping for the very best – it’s a course of that wants cautious thought, underpinned with planning savvy from a planning skilled. It’s about convincing the native council that turning the land into a spot to reside makes higher sense that retaining its present designation.
The very first thing to do is perceive how the land is presently designated. Each council has a Native Plan, which units out what land can be utilized for. In case your web site isn’t already earmarked for residential use, you’ll want to use for planning permission to alter its use. This doesn’t imply altering the designation in a coverage doc however quite asking for approval to make use of the land in another way.
Earlier than leaping in, it’s properly value having a chat with a planning skilled who may help you keep away from widespread pitfalls and provide you with a way of whether or not the council will help the applying. If there aren’t any main crimson flags, you’ll be able to then submit a full planning utility to point out precisely what you’re proposing and why it matches the world.
As soon as submitted, the council will observe their planning course of and can contemplate the affect of the change. There’ll be a session course of and if all goes properly, they’ll grant permission. There aren’t any ensures, however with a well-presented case and the best web site, altering land to residential use is feasible.
Some change-of-use initiatives, like turning a store right into a home can qualify for permitted improvement rights – which means you’ll be able to change the use with out full planning. However these rights are restricted and infrequently don’t apply to sure forms of properties and in protected areas comparable to areas of excellent magnificence (ANOB’s).
Our case examine: from submit workplace to household house
After we started on the lookout for land in Cambridgeshire, we have been fairly optimistic, and assumed we’d discover a constructing plot inside a number of weeks. Actuality was considerably totally different.
After months of looking and some disappointing close to misses, we got here throughout a closed submit workplace within the conservation space of a village. It wasn’t listed as a constructing plot, however we knew that there was potential to alter its designation and safe a planning consent.
The constructing itself was uninspiring, poorly constructed and ugly. However the location was excellent, and the positioning had its personal entry. I knew that there was potential, supplied we adopted the best method and made a robust argument for change.
We did our analysis and found that the submit workplace had been shut for years. The truth is, the village had setup a volunteer store elsewhere, making the constructing redundant. The world was surrounded by homes, and this little business unit was successfully stranded in a residential avenue. It wasn’t listed, but it surely was in a conservation space and wasn’t protected as employment land.
We confirmed that the land was designated as business use, so we would have liked to use for change of use to residential and make a robust case. We sought recommendation from a planning advisor who confirmed that the council’s native plan supported the reuse of redundant business buildings for housing, particularly in built-up areas. Our planner warned us that change-of-use purposes aren’t at all times simple, so we’d want an excellent design, clear justification, and sure, help from neighbours.
Fairly than simply apply for change of use, we submitted a full planning utility for a brand new dwelling, together with an in depth design and entry assertion setting out the arguments for approving the change of use.
As the prevailing constructing was past financial restore, our proposal was to demolish the submit workplace and construct a modest cottage-style home as a substitute. We additionally set out the argument that the business web site was successfully redundant, as a result of different services and the truth that the submit workplace wasn’t prone to transfer again any time quickly.
We labored with an architect to create one thing sympathetic and in step with the world. To be sincere, the design was a pastiche of the previous, but it surely did at the very least join with the native structure through the use of domestically salvaged supplies. It was designed to seem like it had at all times been there.
The preliminary response from the planning division wasn’t significantly constructive. The conservation officer was involved with the affect on the conservation space and claimed that the design was too cumbersome and would hurt to the road scene. Our planner disagreed and set about proving them improper.
We fastidiously reviewed the planning historical past and the earlier refusal causes. It was clear that they weren’t in opposition to the precept of fixing the land’s designation as its retention would have implications to the newly setup store. They have been rather more within the design, which was was one thing we may repair.
We requested the neighbours what they thought and by involving them within the design course of, we gained over their opinion {that a} new house of conventional model was the very best use of the land. Our utility included letters of help from neighbours and a planning assertion that proved that the constructing had no financial worth. Twelve weeks later, we acquired consent and with it, affirmation that the land may now be used for residential functions.
What we discovered
Altering using land is completely doable – however provided that you perceive the planning panorama and play inside the guidelines. A very powerful areas to contemplate are:
- Know the land designation: This units the context for an utility. If it’s designated business, relying on its use, you may benefit from permitted improvement, but when it’s thought-about to have group worth, you’ll must justify why housing is a greater use
- Get recommendation early: Communicate to planners and consultants earlier than submitting something as they’ll know the problems at play and can aid you steer across the inevitable bear traps
- Learn previous refusals:. They typically reveal precisely what went improper earlier than and supply the clues to creating a profitable utility
- Discuss to the neighbours: They don’t have to like your plans, but it surely helps in the event that they don’t hate them
- Design issues: Councils are much more prone to approve one thing that appears proper in its setting, particularly in designated areas comparable to conservation areas
Altering using land is an efficient option to discover a constructing plot and unlock potential in ignored websites. Whether or not it’s a former store, storage, or in our case, a drained outdated submit workplace, these areas might be hiding in plain sight. However success isn’t about luck – it’s about analysis, scouring websites comparable to Plotfinder for alternatives, good design, group engagement, and persistence.
If you happen to’re ready to do the legwork and put money into making a robust case, you would possibly simply discover your excellent plot hiding in essentially the most surprising place. Trying again now on the house we constructed, I nonetheless can’t fairly imagine what we pulled off. All it took was seeing the potential – and never being postpone by the planning course of.
For extra recommendation on shopping for a plot, ensure you perceive the 12 crimson flags that should not be ignored, and in case you’re struggling to discover a web site, ensure you’ve ticked all of the packing containers relating to the place to purchase land.
