Change of use from holiday to residential

alixandgordon

We purchased a timber chalet previously used as a holiday cottage.
The property had planning permission to build a one and a half storey house to replace the chalet. We have been living in the house for some months now, and the planning permission is due to expire in Feb.
Since living here though, we find that the chalet meets our needs perfectly, and we don't feel the need to build the larger property.

Does anyone have any experience of changing use from holiday use to residential?
What will happen when the planning permission expires? (In Feb)
I really have no knowledge about planning permission, and any help would be much appreciated.

Itismehonest

I'm guessing that the PP for the house was also just for holiday use? Something like 10 months per year?

How successful you'd be at getting full residential on the chalet (or the house if built) differs from area to area. The only way to find out is to phone planning & ask, IMO.

To the best of my knowledge (unless things have changed recently) most PP requires work to have been started within a certain time period. That can mean as little as having dug foundations.
If the time is about to run out & no work has begun then the PP runs out, too.
Should someone subsequently want to continue with the work they would have to reapply for PP.

alixandgordon

No, the planning permission is for a residential property.
Since we would rather just live in the existing building, I'm not sure if we should just let the pp expire, and try to apply for change of use for the chalet.

Thrugelmir

You'll need to apply through the Council for a change of use.

Itismehonest

alixandgordon wrote: »

No, the planning permission is for a residential property.
Since we would rather just live in the existing building, I'm not sure if we should just let the pp expire, and try to apply for change of use for the chalet.

Thanks for clarifying. It wasn't clear.
Yep, you will need change of use.
If it were me I'd ask Planning what the likelihood is asap. That way, if they say that the chalet won't get full residential, you still have time to make a start on work (weather allowing) before the deadline.

planning_officer

You are unlikely to have to apply to change the use of the property. There is no such use as a 'holiday let'. The current use is residential and your proposed use is residential - therefore to put it simply, there is no change of use involved.

In most cases, a holiday let is simply an unrestricted residential property, or it may be that it is controlled by a condition on the original planning permission preventing occupation for certain months of the year. That's highly unlikely for a permanent dwelling, but you say this is a timber chalet so it could be possible. If that's the case, then you would need to submit a planning application to remove the relevant condition from the original planning permission, in order to allow the unrestricted occupancy of the dwelling (it's normally called a Variation of Condition application).

Have a look at the more recent planning application for a replacement dwelling - does that contain any restrictive conditions relating to it being a holiday let? Is it restricted occupancy or can it only be occupied at certain times of the year? If there are no such conditions, then clearly the principle of an unrestricted house here is perfectly acceptable to the LPA and it should be easy to remove the previous condition(s) (if there were any - if not, then my advice above applies - no change of use or any other application is likely to be required).

GDB2222

In the meantime, I strongly suggest that you apply to extend the existing planning permission, just as an insurance and to keep all your options open.

Itismehonest

planning_officer wrote: »

You are unlikely to have to apply to change the use of the property. There is no such use as a 'holiday let'. The current use is residential and your proposed use is residential - therefore to put it simply, there is no change of use involved.

In most cases, a holiday let is simply an unrestricted residential property, or it may be that it is controlled by a condition on the original planning permission preventing occupation for certain months of the year. That's highly unlikely for a permanent dwelling, but you say this is a timber chalet so it could be possible. If that's the case, then you would need to submit a planning application to remove the relevant condition from the original planning permission, in order to allow the unrestricted occupancy of the dwelling (it's normally called a Variation of Condition application).

Have a look at the more recent planning application for a replacement dwelling - does that contain any restrictive conditions relating to it being a holiday let? Is it restricted occupancy or can it only be occupied at certain times of the year? If there are no such conditions, then clearly the principle of an unrestricted house here is perfectly acceptable to the LPA and it should be easy to remove the previous condition(s) (if there were any - if not, then my advice above applies - no change of use or any other application is likely to be required).

Our planning states 10 months only & for maximum 2 weeks at time ........ it has to be for holidays. All stone cottages (barn conversions)

GDB2222

Itismehonest wrote: »

Our planning states 10 months only & for maximum 2 weeks at time ........ it has to be for holidays. All stone cottages (barn conversions)

And you bought it as a home to live in? Seriously?

Ivana_Tinkle

planning_officer wrote: »

You are unlikely to have to apply to change the use of the property. There is no such use as a 'holiday let'. The current use is residential and your proposed use is residential - therefore to put it simply, there is no change of use involved.

I'm fairly sure this isn't correct. Here in Cornwall, it's very common for people to be granted permission to convert their outbuildings to holiday lets, but the planning permission is always very explicit that they are only to be used for holiday lets. If you want to use them all year round, you have to apply for a change of use to residential, and it isn't granted unless you can show that you've tried to let them and been unsuccessful. I presumed a holiday let was classed as a commerical use? That's certainly how Cornwall Council treats it.

Itismehonest

GDB2222 wrote: »

And you bought it as a home to live in? Seriously?

:rotfl: No. It's one of a number of cottages on our property we converted. The house has always been a house.
Are you mixing me up with the OP?

Ivana_Tinkle wrote: »

I'm fairly sure this isn't correct. Here in Cornwall, it's very common for people to be granted permission to convert their outbuildings to holiday lets, but the planning permission is always very explicit that they are only to be used for holiday lets. If you want to use them all year round, you have to apply for a change of use to residential, and it isn't granted unless you can show that you've tried to let them and been unsuccessful. I presumed a holiday let was classed as a commerical use? That's certainly how Cornwall Council treats it.

Until you retire & stop paying Business Rates. Then all become liable for CT. So, if you have, say, 6 cottages within one property boundary they are charged 6 separate lots of CT. If you happen to live there, too, that would make 7. Your home & 6 2nd homes.
BTW I'm not in Cornwall but it's the same here.