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Gwendo40
Posts: 349 Forumite
There's a small barn conversion near me that only gained planning permission on the basis of it being a 'commercial' property i.e a holiday let... which is up for sale advertised as an 'investment property/holiday let'.
It is to all intents and purposes a 'normal' house... freehold, in it's own grounds, on a public highway,
What is to stop someone buying it and simply living in it full time as their main residence?
(Assuming they can provide an alternative postal address?)
It is to all intents and purposes a 'normal' house... freehold, in it's own grounds, on a public highway,
What is to stop someone buying it and simply living in it full time as their main residence?
(Assuming they can provide an alternative postal address?)
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Comments
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There's a small barn conversion near me that only gained planning permission on the basis of it being a 'commercial' property i.e a holiday let... which is up for sale advertised as an 'investment property/holiday let'.
It is to all intents and purposes a 'normal' house... freehold, in it's own grounds, on a public highway,
What is to stop someone buying it and simply living in it full time as their main residence?
(Assuming they can provide an alternative postal address?)
Nothing, as long as you get the current planning permission amended to allow such use.
Probably easier said than done. If residentail use was easy to obtain, I'm sure the original planning permission application would have requested that ... and would have had it granted.that only gained planning permission on the basis of it being a 'commercial' property i.e a holiday let...
Comment on alternative postal address is irrelevant0 -
Thank you for the speedy reply.
And assuming you don't/can't get the current pp amended?0 -
Thank you for the speedy reply.
And assuming you don't/can't get the current pp amended?
One would be using the premesis in contravention of the existing permited planning permission , and enforcement action may be taken accordingly.
See previous threads on similar topic
e.g.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=956335
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4310979
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=11139930 -
The only thing tht would stop you using it as permanent home is enforcement by the local authority.
How likely enforcement would be these days is a matter for conjecture.
We are no longer living in 2008, when councils hadn't experienced the effects of austerity, so my guess is that they wouldn't come looking for you. However, as someone else said in one of the threads quoted above, there's often someone local who'll drop you in it if you contravene planning. Once reported, the council would feel bound to investigate and act appropriately.0 -
This comes up a lot. It depends on the planning terms, but many just state you can't live there all year round - 2 weeks in Feb as empty period is common, but can be longer. In reality noone is likely to check and it is a grey area if you say you are providing caretaking of property (I've done this previously).
A few other considerations, you'll pay business rates not council tax, there could be a requirement for increased insurance and safety things you'll need to do to property (fire escapes, wired smoke alarms etc). You'll need a commercial mortgage, typically higher rate and arrangement fees, LTV usually 50-75% max.
I did this years ago and successfully got planning for residential. We had to demonstrate the limited commercial viability, we also had to offer the property to the community first. We had supporting letters from neighbours which helped. Pretty easy though. The property is usually worth more with full residential so also check why the current owners didn't just do this - could be a issue you aren't aware of.0 -
If it's used as 'sole or main residence' then council tax will be due, it will not be regraded as a holiday let under business rates.I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.0
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This comes up a lot. It depends on the planning terms, but many just state you can't live there all year round - 2 weeks in Feb as empty period is common, but can be longer. In reality noone is likely to check and it is a grey area if you say you are providing caretaking of property (I've done this previously).
A few other considerations, you'll pay business rates not council tax, there could be a requirement for increased insurance and safety things you'll need to do to property (fire escapes, wired smoke alarms etc). You'll need a commercial mortgage, typically higher rate and arrangement fees, LTV usually 50-75% max.
I did this years ago and successfully got planning for residential. We had to demonstrate the limited commercial viability, we also had to offer the property to the community first. We had supporting letters from neighbours which helped. Pretty easy though. The property is usually worth more with full residential so also check why the current owners didn't just do this - could be a issue you aren't aware of.
Does this mean that if the residents go away on holiday for a few weeks they fulfil the requirement for non-continuous occupation?There is no honour to be had in not knowing a thing that can be known - Danny Baker0 -
Check the planning portal and read everything to do with the property.
Understand the councils position it may be residential was never asked for.
pay particulate attention to any objections.0 -
Thanks for all the further links and replies, very interesting.
Demonstrating that the property is not commercially viable does look the most obvious route to pursue in terms of getting change of use to residential.0 -
Planning rules have changed. There is now Part Q which may help you, though aimed at changing redundant farm buildings into homes. If this had still been a barn, then part Q now would almost certainly allow it to be converted to a house so you could argue on that basis.
Otherwise just use it as a house, and if you get away with it for (I think) 10 years you can apply for a certificate of lawful development.0
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