Dominic Raab

Housing minister changes PD rights for agricultural buildings



Housing minister Dominic Raab has announced more options for rural communities to convert agricultural buildings into family homes.


Under the new changes to permitted development rights, up to five new homes can be created from existing agricultural buildings on a farm, up from the current permitted maximum of three.

Agricultural buildings can now be converted to provide:

  • up to three larger homes within a maximum size of 465 square metres
  • up to five smaller homes each no larger than 100 square metres
  • a mix of both, but with no more than three larger homes in a total of no more than five.

Applicants now have an extra year to convert storage and distribution buildings into new homes, while the size limit of new agricultural buildings on larger farms has also been increased from 465 square metres to 1,000 square metres.

Currently several hundred new homes each year are created through conversions of agricultural buildings, and these changes are expected to boost these numbers further.

Mr Raab said: “We need to be more creative if we are to meet the housing needs of rural communities.

“That’s why I’m changing planning rules so rural communities have more flexibility on how best to use existing buildings to deliver more much-needed homes for families.

“This is part of our comprehensive reform programme to build the homes Britain needs.”



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