8 stages of a farm yard development resulting in 15 dwellings

1

New access at Listed Farmhouse.
Parking at this listed property was limited, was to the rear of the property and shared a drive with the converted farm yard meaning that for the occupiers there were regular encounters with lorries visiting the business units.  The opportunity was taken to provide a new access and parking area to the front of the farmhouse to provide greater exclusivity at the site and to draw on the beautiful charter of the listed property.  Bloomfields had to demonstrate the character of the listed property was not adversely affected (nor was the neighbouring Grade I listed property) whilst showing roots on mature trees in the garden would not be impacted by new drive and boundary treatments.  Listed Building consent approved.

2

Demonstrating an office building could be converted to a dwelling.
Pulling together evidence in an application to show a continued office use in two adjoining buildings, served by an internal link, was essential in supporting the first stage of this application to a achieve a fallback permission for a residential use. After this was achieved, clever design by Bloomfields Architectural team proposed the incorporation of part of a third building to increase the footprint of the proposed dwelling to create a generous family home. To achieve the linking with the third building a modern glazed link was proposed so the full extent of the original brick farm buildings could remain. Full planning permission has been achieved.

3

Full planning permission for conversion of farm buildings to a dwelling.
Bloomfields made a full application for the conversion of two brick farm buildings into a single residential unit after the in house architectural team were able to advise how these thin agricultural building could be used together to accommodate a 3 bedroom house while also ensuring the shared family space was able to optimise views across the open countryside. At the 11th hour before determination and having ben told things were looking favourable, the Council’s Conservation officer suggested that the buildings concerned were listed. Ordinarily this may not have been a concern, but in this case this would have jeopardised an established fall-back position and removed the planning arguments justifying the conversion. However, working with specialists and the Council Bloomfields were able to successfully demonstrate the Council’s stance was incorrect and full planning permission should be granted – it was.

4

Demonstrating a light industrial use could be converted to a dwelling.
Bloomfields were able to demonstrate that permitted development rights could be utilised in connection with a light industrial unit as relevant policy had been met. This did require the gathering of an evidence base to demonstrate historical uses. At the initial changes whilst the conversion principle was being established there was no need to go into a detailed design proposal, which kept the cost of the application down. However, once the principle of the permission was supported by the Council, the Bloomfields architectural team could design a modern luxury scheme which would capitalise on panoramic views of the countryside in an full application. During the determination of the full application the Council wanted to be satisfied which parts of the building were new and which related to the original building’s structure – this was clarified through technical drawings provided by the Architectural team, in a format that could be easily understood by Committee members.

5

Trading in an office conversion and an agricultural use for the conversion of a Dutch barn.
The team at Bloomfields showed how one part of the building had been used for agricultural purposes and another part for an office use but that both individually should benefit from being able to be converted via different methodologies to obtain two independent residential permissions. This was achieved. In addition to this, the principle of two further two residential conversion was established in an agricultural building (not shown on this site plan) behind this Dutch barn. This generated ‘trade in’ potential (see Item 8) which subsequently led to an improvement in the residential amenity for future occupiers of the Dutch Barn and vastly improved views of the opening countryside to the west. The Architectural team at Bloomfields created a modern living space in the barn which they also managed to separate from the immediately adjoining building to the south to create two detached units as opposed to a demi detached arrangement that would have otherwise existed.

6

When reducing the number of dwellings has value.
Armed with an established fallback position for six separate dwelling houses in this former Oast house, Bloomfields architectural team set to work reconfiguring this three floor building to provide four larger, more balanced units that would allow contemporary living in a shared building. This revised proposal was presented to the Council as part of a full planning application, where a Prior Notification position otherwise existed. Not only did this create individual units of greater value and with improved layouts, it was an opportunistic moment to extend the time frames under which the applicant had to start any conversion works by. Importantly though, it would also generate further ‘trading in” potential for the applicant (See Item 8).

7

Giving yourself more time.
Whilst Prior Notification applications are a good way of establishing when certain development can take place, there remains an inconsistency in the way that Council’s and their officers deal with these and which therefore requires specialist management. This can create unpredictable situations which, if inappropriately advised, could see applicant’s commissioning unnecessary work before principles get established. The balance is a fine one between enough, but not too much. Furthermore, in the case of Class Q applications (which sees agricultural buildings being converted to houses) there is a requirement for you to complete any approved works within three years. For anyone who might have tight budgets, who may be considering their sale options or, in this case, may want to have more regard to the holistic way a wider site is looked at, a three year completion date may be unachievable. So, to overcome this potential issue, Bloomfields made a full planning application for the conversion of the building which was approved – giving the applicant three years to start (not finish) this proposal. At the same time, and knowing a fall back had been established, Bloomfields Architectural team could spend greater time designing a more comprehensive scheme knowing it wasn’t in vain and at the same time, taking the opportunity to expand the garden area around the house (which is limited through Class Q).

8

Giving yourself more time.
Whilst Prior Notification applications are a good way of establishing when certain development can take place, there remains an inconsistency in the way that Council’s and their officers deal with these and which therefore requires specialist management. This can create unpredictable situations which, if inappropriately advised, could see applicant’s commissioning unnecessary work before principles get established. The balance is a fine one between enough, but not too much. Furthermore, in the case of Class Q applications (which sees agricultural buildings being converted to houses) there is a requirement for you to complete any approved works within three years. For anyone who might have tight budgets, who may be considering their sale options or, in this case, may want to have more regard to the holistic way a wider site is looked at, a three year completion date may be unachievable. So, to overcome this potential issue, Bloomfields made a full planning application for the conversion of the building which was approved – giving the applicant three years to start (not finish) this proposal. At the same time, and knowing a fall back had been established, Bloomfields Architectural team could spend greater time designing a more comprehensive scheme knowing it wasn’t in vain and at the same time, taking the opportunity to expand the garden area around the house (which is limited through Class Q).