Tom

As in access to their own en suit - a safety thing? Possibly. Not planning on selling though, but never say never... Good point, not sure on the regs south of the border, any one know?

Still thinking about the internal lay-out/design of our barn conversion and got some interesting responses to a previous thread on the topic - one of which was to lose the family bathroom and have en suits in all the bedrooms. This has got me thinking, and I'd appreciate the thoughts of the assembled hive-mind: do you actually need a family bathroom? If all bedrooms have en suits and there is an additional separate loo somewhere else - what is the point of the family bathroom? Any views welcome Cheers

More chance the suspended timber floor will suffer from rot/other damp problems now that you've lost the air bricks ventilating the suspended floor in the side-return. Taking it all out and starting again with a well insulated slab sounds like a good idea.

Yes, I'm well aware of the restrictions of a Class Q change of use, having just gone through the process myself. You certainly can't knock the existing building down as it has to be a conversion, therefore you have to use the existing structure . What I'm suggesting though, is that now you have the change of use granted you apply for full planning permission for a replacement dwelling - which will mean you CAN knock it down and start again. There are several such successful applications near me that have done exactly that. There is planning case-law as a precedent: search for Mansell v Tonbridge and Malling BC [2017] EWCA Civ 1314. In essence it seems the argument is that as the conversion to residential has already been established, and there being no reason why this conversion can't go ahead, a full planning application would be for a replacement dwelling - and therefore would be looked upon more favourably. Certainly worth exploring in my opinion (if you haven't already), not least as starting from the ground up will be significantly less hassle but the more favourable tax implications for a new build v conversion.

Yep, looks like it. If you look at the error bars the upward tick at 15kg/min is not statistically significant

Why not just stick a static caravan in there? Or even something trendy with shipping containers. Once you have the part Q permission it is (supposedly!) relatively straightforward to get full planning permission for the site and just knock down and rebuild. That's what we are in the process of doing now.

We'd want something with a fairly light footprint TBH Joe, and finding/building something that we could all live comfortably in for a year+, and then it being in a fit state for people to pay to stay there, sounds expensive. The thing with statics is they are almost free (give or take a few thousand...) and they are pretty comfortable by the look of them. Moot point I know if you can't get the thing on to your site though.

Access isn't actually too bad for lorries, the lane serves farms etc. Widening, not possible as the road is essentially sunk between high devon banks. Re caravans, if it was two of us I think that might work (though we'd probably be divorced by the end), but with 2 children as well... Log cabins/shipping containers etc in theory yes, but to actually fit the things out would probably cost more than a few years rent in somewhere nearby. At some stage we do want to put some structures in for glamping etc, but going to have to mull those plans for several years before really making up our minds. I need to approach the farmer about access through his fields. Even paying him a few grand to take down a gatepost here or there to make it possible would be worth it, but even then there are some tight bottlenecks. Has anyone craned a static?

Thanks both. Agree low-loader would be the way to go if it was through fields - but even then there would be a few very tight bends. What are the shortest statics? Could get two 10-ft wide short ones (eg 20ft?) if possible, convert one for bedrooms only for example.

Morning all. Recently been granted change of use (agricultural to residential) on our barn, so, as things begin to crystalise and we are beginning to let ourselves believe this might actually happen, I've been pondering our on-site accommodation options. In an ideal world we would have a big static caravan there - already borehole water and electricity on site so half way there - but access is awful. Our fields are down a very narrow, winding lane with high Devon banks on either side. We managed to get one of the static transporters to come and have a look and there was virtually non-stop sucking of teeth - width goes down to 8ft in places. So, what options? Accommodation would be for the 4 of us - wife and two children 7 and 5yo, so we need something reasonable. There is a chance we could get a static dragged a mile or so through fields but I'm not sure the thing would survive the journey. I don't fancy spending a year++ in a caravan or two. I have searched high and low on the internet and it seems statics don't come apart - or at least if they do, they won't go back together. I've approached a helicopter transport company - and they quoted £120k for moving one a mile from a nearby layby. So, er, I decided not to pursue that one... Any ideas?

10/10 for effort Dave! We had a ceiling in very similar condition in our victorian terrace in London, went for the replace-with-plasterboard option. God what a mess. Sounds like you've done a through job on yours so no reason to expect it won't be there in another 100 years or so.

Yes, good thinking. Not exactly sure at this stage as the barn has such a high vaulted roof which I think we'll keep exposed and the utility will be essentially a standalone pod within this space, so might all be open plan whatever we do with doors etc. Certainly a good point though John, thanks V interesting Mike, thanks. Will definitely discuss with our architect. Having a "family bathroom" is a bit old hat in a way I suppose.

Yep, agree. Should be able to eat in to the second bedroom and make more space for that.

Because that's how the barns are at the moment - basically three barns all built at different times over the last 15 years abutting each other at different angles. With the change of use you have to keep the same envelope. As we're applying for full planning now, we could actually straighten it all out (and even actually propose something completely different), but I quite like the idea of referring back to the original structures. According to the change of use rules you are not allowed to add any new structural elements - the original barns have to be strong enough to be "converted" in to residential without needing anything else. Hence why the application for full planning: will free us up to do a proper job.

Morning ladies and gents, Well, after what seems like an absolute age (actually about a year) we have finally been given permission for change of use for the modern agricultural barns we bought a short while ago. To say that is a relief is an understatement - we went literally all in on the gamble and were taters deep, so if it wasn't for the global pandemic and impending end of days we'd probably be running naked through the streets. Perhaps we will anyway? Anywho, we now intend to apply for full planning which will allow us to do a proper build and avoid all the pain of having to keep the original structure and not add new structural elements etc etc. The design we have is actually the first one we came up with the architect before having to reign in our aspirations as the realities of applying for change of use under Part Q sunk in. It's very similar to the one we were just given the green light for, just with more glazing basically. So, hoping to submit very soon - but would really like to hear your views on the proposed design. Any glaring omissions/errors? Cheers all Tom Larcombe_PartQ GAs.pdf

Excellent, thanks both

Morning ladies and gents, does any one know if applying for permission to live on-site forms part of a planning application, or if it is a separate application in itself? Thanks all

Thanks both, so is it possible to put a figure on the "strength" of the floor? E.g. must withstand x kg/ m2?

Hello all, bit of a random question, can anyone advise on the "strength" of a standard floor slab with UFH. i.e what loading (in kg/sq metre?) is the minimum a floor should be able to take? Is there a building regs requirement? I'm imagining a standard sort of insulated slab with perhaps ring beam. Apologies for the vagueness of the question, and I'm sure there are many if's and but's, but just a ballpark figure would be great. Thanks all Tom

Also worth noting that cement will absorb CO2 back from the atmosphere in a process called carbonation - so it's carbon footprint could potentially be a lot less than calculated simply from the manufacturing process.

Ah yes, but looks like they're 911's so a nice carpeted garage and a tooth brush for detailing should be included IMO

Ha! Honestly, couldn't agree more. Just thought I'd stir the pot...

...they'd be three years late and five times over budget....

Yep, there is a process to go through, but essentially is it not all just a matter of proving that the site meets permitted development criteria - those fundamentals (contaminated land etc) are essentially unchanged and existed in a state that met (or not, as the case may be) the criteria before as well as after the PD application. It's not the same as planning permission, whereby value has been added to the site. Totally agree.

...and just thinking this through again, an overage/uplift clause is intended to allow the seller to recover money when the value of the land/property sold goes up as a result of planning permission being granted. Part Q is permitted development - as such the value of the land should essentially remain unchanged: the right to convert to residential existed before and after the sale of the land. So, even if we found we had to pay an overage, we could potentially argue that the value of the property was unchanged, therefore the overage due was £0? Hmmm...