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New Planning Laws
New Planning Laws
Post date
June 2024
Government has announced new planning laws for England, allowing farmers greater freedom to grow and diversify their businesses.
The NFU vice president who brought forward these issues in the last consultation is pleased with the items included in the announcement – these include:
- Expanding and extending the size of buildings that can be erected with permitted development, and
- Expanding the changes of use within buildings on farms.
Following these changes, farmers now have scope to convert agricultural buildings and land into business opportunities, without the need for a planning application. This includes larger farm shops, outdoor sports facilities, farm training centres and housing, to name a few. Unfortunately, these new laws do not extend to livestock buildings.
Originally, the restrictions under class Q meant that no more than five barns could be converted into homes. This has been amended to allow up to ten barns be converted into houses, with the total combined area changed to 1000 sqm, where it had originally been 865 sqm. These new laws do not extend to protected landscapes.
To learn more about the new planning changes, click here.
