Changing use from business to residential

Smudge's_Lot

After some advice please...
My mum bought a property that was residential and she then got planning permission to open a tea rooms on the ground floor and she lives above. The tea rooms have been rented out for the last 15 years and it's now time to sell the property and mum to move out.
Estate agents have advised that making it 100% residential again would make it easier to sell and at a higher price.

Looking for advice on how best to do this and where to start.....thanks

Hoploz

Best thing to do is pop in and ask your local planning dept. There are currently some allowances under permitted development whereby business properties can be changed to residential without the need for planning permission, but this is only for certain business classes.

It might help to google the permitted development regulations document but it can be tricky to understand and you'll want confirmation anyway.

First stop, try the PlanningPortal.gov website.

Has the EA given you a idea of the difference in value? It will probably be quite a bit of expense and aggravation to change the layout and refurbish before you sell. Would you be better just to check it would be possible and then leave it to the next person to actually do the work?

G_M

'Popping in' to planning used to be easy.

Sadly many councils now require you to make an appointment - and pay for it.

elverson

You might want to speak to a planning consultant (not an estate agent). Make sure they are RTPI members if you do.

https://www.rtpiconsultants.co.uk/

Surrey_EA

G_M wrote: »

'Popping in' to planning used to be easy.

Sadly many councils now require you to make an appointment - and pay for it.

I discovered this for myself yesterday.

I wandered over to our local council offices with the intention of obtaining a copy of some planning documents for a house I'm selling. it used to be possible to walk up to the planning desk and as long as one asked nicely then the documents required were normally provided immediately.

This however, is no longer possible. It is now necessary to send in a written request, and the documents will hopefully then be forwarded at some undefined point in the future.

Fuzzyness

Smudge's_Lot wrote: »

After some advice please...
My mum bought a property that was residential and she then got planning permission to open a tea rooms on the ground floor and she lives above. The tea rooms have been rented out for the last 15 years and it's now time to sell the property and mum to move out.
Estate agents have advised that making it 100% residential again would make it easier to sell and at a higher price.

Looking for advice on how best to do this and where to start.....thanks

i think a trip to the planning office is required. you have planning permission at present on the ground floor for a cafe/tea room, which falls within use class A3. there are permitted development rights that allow this to be changed to class A1 or A2 - retail and financial service use without needing to apply for planning permission. furthermore, once the building has this type of permission there are further permitted development rights to change to a dwelling under certain provisos. I'd speak to a planning officer as you never know you may get away without needing to submit a planning application although you may still need prior approval for the change.

Fuzzyness

Surrey_EA wrote: »

I discovered this for myself yesterday.

I wandered over to our local council offices with the intention of obtaining a copy of some planning documents for a house I'm selling. it used to be possible to walk up to the planning desk and as long as one asked nicely then the documents required were normally provided immediately.

This however, is no longer possible. It is now necessary to send in a written request, and the documents will hopefully then be forwarded at some undefined point in the future.

it is difficult but a lot of council's do have stuff on line if you can fathom out how to track down the stuff you want. one downside is they dont always go back much further than 10 years sometimes so really depends on what you need.

Surrey_EA

Fuzzyness wrote: »

it is difficult but a lot of council's do have stuff on line if you can fathom out how to track down the stuff you want. one downside is they dont always go back much further than 10 years sometimes so really depends on what you need.

Unfortunately the permission was granted in 2001, and whilst there is a note on the online system that plans were approved, none of the accompanying documents are available to view or download, so it's the old fashioned way in this case.

Fuzzyness

Surrey_EA wrote: »

Unfortunately the permission was granted in 2001, and whilst there is a note on the online system that plans were approved, none of the accompanying documents are available to view or download, so it's the old fashioned way in this case.

in the good old days they used to keep all the files in the planning office but those days are gone and they now have to retrieve from off site storage places, which is why it takes time.

Surrey_EA

Fuzzyness wrote: »

in the good old days they used to keep all the files in the planning office but those days are gone and they now have to retrieve from off site storage places, which is why it takes time.

So much for progress!

Smudge's_Lot

Thanks for all the replies so far, I spent most of yesterday both on the phone and online trying to get the correct forms, AVDC is not the most friendly council, got passed from valuation office to planning whose terse reply was to use the website!
This council does indeed charge for pre application advice and no, you just cannot turn up and have a quick chat...

Regarding keeping it in a business class, that's not what we are after, as looking for planning permission to change it back to 100% residential, and no, I will not be doing any of the work to change it back as such, that would be for the new buyer to decide, ie up to them if they want the 100% residential or keep the business part, I am just getting the permission to change it!
Thanks again, keep them coming!