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Changing planning permission for holiday cottages

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  • Pennylane
    Pennylane Posts: 2,707
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    There is another side to this - as with most things.;)

    When people bought these places they paid LESS for them because they were only for holiday use and had restrictons on them.

    They bought them knowing this full well but they seem to think rules don't apply to them and they can buy a property cheaply, get the local council to change their minds and let them live in it all year round. Their property is now worth a lot more and if they sell it they're quids in!
  • downshifter
    downshifter Posts: 1,122
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    Yes I can see that's true, but I would've thought it possible to put some sort of condition on the change of use permission, such as, not to be sold within 10 years, or for local people only or similar (there are a few properties around here with the latter restriction) Or perhaps they could be let to the local authority or other social landlord to ensure they are available to those most in need. Interesting to know this is happening in other parts of the country.

    I did wonder about the relaxation of the rules on business premises, a hol cottage could be just that. It needs someone to put it to the test!

    DS
  • Well part of my business is holiday lets mine however are full but as you say farmer giles and co built holiday lets thinking it was all profit and they could pay mrs mop to get them ready at every turn around (mugs) little did they know we have no mrs mops any more and to actually rent them at an high enough volume they had to pay a large company such as ecc to do it, shock and horror not the gold mine they thought it was.
    However 2 of my failed customers did go back to planning and ask to have them turned to residential use and no longer holiday lets the one customers wish was granted when he showed he had 2 punters for a year , the other customer was turned down. I do think planners etc are getting wise we had one local chap who built a holiday let with no intention of it being so, talk in the pub is he is going to ask for change of use the talk is also of a very public objection. Basically just put in the request and see how you get on.
  • clutton_2
    clutton_2 Posts: 11,149 Forumite
    planners know that it is a well known ploy of some farmers to ask for holiday let permission to convert barns, knowing that they will not run this business full time.... then after a year or two they can "prove" that they do not have the demand for a holiday let business and ask for a residential planning...

    however... i was reliably informed recently that building regs for holiday cottages is not as stringent for holiday cottages... so they may not be as good a buy for full time residential as may be thought
  • Running_Horse
    Running_Horse Posts: 11,807
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    edited 2 April 2011 at 6:17AM
    No, Peak Park. It's just awful that this should be allowed to happen that young people can't afford to live in places like this yet little holiday cottages, perfect for a starter home, are allowed to stand empty. Properties are far too expensive to buy. Wish there was a way round it.
    Except those little cottages would never be sold to young couples. They would inevitably go to wealthier older pensioners moving in to the area.

    http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-29420140.html

    http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-16210455.html

    Even with a local occupancy clause, how many young families earn enough for places like these?
    Been away for a while.
  • RAS
    RAS Posts: 32,539
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    This is an interesting development?

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12941407
    The person who has not made a mistake, has made nothing
  • downshifter
    downshifter Posts: 1,122
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    Thanks. I wonder how they chose those particular areas?

    We are in the process of developing a parish plan, though it would've been nice to have funding to do it! This sounds like the 'Planning for Real' schemes which have run in several places in the past.

    Unfortunately it won't solve one problem we have, which is that all objections and comments are made public (rightly so), so neighbours won't formally object through the proper process as everyone will know it's them. What happens however, is that the chuntering goes on for years and years instead and village feuds go on for ever! So if one farmer applies for permission to convert his little field barn into a holiday let, no-one will openly object, they will just mutter behind hands and doors for ever after!

    If this scheme gives ownership to local communities and involves and gives a say to everyone, then there may be less of the falling out.

    My thinking behind this thread was that properties should be available for rent, not to buy, as has been said, the prices are beyond most young couples or single people. My home for example, is rented and I certainly couldn't afford to buy it.

    DS
  • Running_Horse
    Running_Horse Posts: 11,807
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    My thinking behind this thread was that properties should be available for rent, not to buy, as has been said, the prices are beyond most young couples or single people. My home for example, is rented and I certainly couldn't afford to buy it.
    Having got change of planning permission, do you think these farmers will rent to young couples on low wages, or cash in their major asset?
    Been away for a while.
  • downshifter
    downshifter Posts: 1,122
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    Depends on the conditions placed on the planning permission. Also, many that I know would be difficult to sell independently of the farm as they are joined on, or part of the farmyard, or in the middle of a field with no access that would allow them to be sold (no-one renting would mind shared access or through the farmyard etc)
  • Madmel
    Madmel Posts: 798
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    We have to pay business rates on our cottage and the council will not take the rubbish away from there as waste disposal is not included in business rates. However, they are more than happy to take away B&B rubbish and the waste from a second home...

    Partly due to the fact that DH and I work long hours and lack the time to do it properly, we haven't marketed our cottage very actively this year. We have a few bookings but as a previous poster has said, it's tying and there's not that much money to be made once you factor in the costs of the rates, heating the place, insurance etc. We are seriously considering absorbing it back into our main house as the difference to our coucnil tax would be one band, and far less than the rates. This cottage cannot be sold separately anyway because the access is solely across our land and it is next to a lane on two other sides.
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