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They look great. I imagine they’d fall foul of various building regs, minimum floor space etc in the UK so there would no doubt have to things done to address those issues, but as a concept it’s great. Reminds me of something like a folding caravan or trailer tent lol. 

 

 

 

 

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Interesting.

 

I can see no reason why it couldn’t be a proper 2 or 2.5 storeys with appropriate bracing in the walls.

 

My first question would be about thermal quality of the walls, then about cost of service connections, and how it would work out in a U.K. context.

 

F

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47 minutes ago, Ferdinand said:

My first question would be about thermal quality of the walls, then about cost of service connections, and how it would work out in a U.K. context.

 

I guess there are a bunch of things to be considered such as the 11 month occupancy clauses for holiday let’s that are a way of getting round building regs (I think!) etc. I know of people who use that type of property as their only home but have to move out for a month a year to comply with the regulations. They can’t afford to buy anything else. The current planning restrictions and ever more focus on an increasing set of building regs prevent much innovation that could help provide low cost housing. So the need for a wheelchair accessible WC in every new build for example no matter how small. I’m not talking about people living in hovels of course but trying to provide affordable housing against a backdrop of ever increasing building regs makes the reality affordable even less likely as time goes on without a step change in thinking. 

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3 hours ago, newhome said:

They look great. I imagine they’d fall foul of various building regs, minimum floor space etc in the UK so there would no doubt have to things done to address those issues, but as a concept it’s great. Reminds me of something like a folding caravan or trailer tent lol. 

 

You could get away with the "caravan" (portable building) exemption and thus be building regs exempt if you did not use the "upstairs"  The caravan exemption has a maximum ceiling height and must be single storey, but it doesn't say you can't have a loft space. Just don't use it for sleeping in!!!

 

Whether you can use it all year or 11 months depends on planning, if it has planning as holiday accommodation, then the 11 months may apply. If it has planning as residential then it should be all year.

 

i.e you could probably put one of these on a holiday park that has planning for "holiday caravans" (as long as you don't use the upstairs) but would probably be subject to seasonal use only.

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As a slight deviation, my other half is fixated by Shepard’s huts and want me to build one in our field ( ha, yet to finish the house?) and just googled a few sites regarding planning permission and if it’s got wheels and you don’t mind moving it every 90 days ( on agricultural land) you don’t need planning. After the long fight for planning permission for our replacement house I can see another fight coming ?.

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12 minutes ago, joe90 said:

want me to build one in our field ( ha, yet to finish the house?)

 

You could just ditch the house, live in the hut, and drag it round the field every 3 months ;)

 

I get why people want a shepherd’s hut, log cabin or whatever as a holiday home in a different location but what would you do with one adjacent to the house? AirBnB or something? 

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10 minutes ago, newhome said:

 

You could just ditch the house, live in the hut, and drag it round the field every 3 months ;)

 

I get why people want a shepherd’s hut, log cabin or whatever as a holiday home in a different location but what would you do with one adjacent to the house? AirBnB or something? 

We negotiated the planning permission to keep the static caravan permanently. You might ask why?

 

Well not for accommodation. For more work / storage space.  The one we bought (partly because of how well it lends itself to other uses) basically has 3 rooms. the larger one will get used as an artist studio and a music room. One bedroom will get put to use as my ham radio "shack" and the third at the moment is just going to be a store room.

 

As such it represents tremendous value per square metre, and to add that much extra space to the house itself would have stretched our bedget too far, not to mention extra council tax etc (which does not apply to a "garden outbuilding")

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1 hour ago, newhome said:

 

You could just ditch the house, live in the hut, and drag it round the field every 3 months ;)

 

I get why people want a shepherd’s hut, log cabin or whatever as a holiday home in a different location but what would you do with one adjacent to the house? AirBnB or something? 

 

We have a muddy field adjacent to our build that I plan to turn into a meadow, the last rays of the sun shine in the bottom corner and that’s where I fancy a quiet place to drink tea/wine and meditate the day . My wife is a councillor and she fancies this quiet place to help people with their issues. I know I will never get planning for a building so I will put wheels on it and tow it with my dumper!.

 

p.s. we have woodlands next to us and an abundance of wildlife including deer and owls and it would make a perfect place to view them.

Edited by joe90
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5 minutes ago, joe90 said:

. I know I will never get planning for a building so I will put wheels on it and tow it with my dumper!.

 

How far do you have to move something to stay within the rules? 

 

 

 

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On 05/06/2018 at 16:00, newhome said:

How far do you have to move something to stay within the rules? 

 

Isn't it about "use" rather than position?

 

We persuaded the planners to remove the "caravan must be removed..." clause by pointing out that on the day of completion I could remove the caravan, and immediately replace it with an identical caravan in an identical position and it would be a a permitted development garden outbuilding. As long as we are not living in it after completion, it would not ned planning permission.

 

I suspect this shepherds hut would be the same.  If you do start sleeping in it, you are into the 28 day rule, so you could spend 28 nights in it per year without needing planning permission.

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I think Dave is correct, I was quoting a farming website that talked about movable buildings. Frankly after the fight I gave the council ( and won hands down) perhaps they won’t challenge me ( ever the optimist ?).

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The moveable bit certainly exempts you from building control, so that's one less worry. That might also be the case with my static caravan, it might be that a fixed garden outbuilding of that size, while permitted development, might need building control, but not because it's moveable.

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A friend of mine just pulled out of a house purchase due to an issue with the 3 acre ‘garden’. Sellers said it was garden, the searches showed that it was agricultural. She put in a request to see if at least some of it could be redefined as garden and it came back as a no, plus they could find no evidence of PP for the existing parking area being approved (that was apparently in the agricultural part too). Council didn’t want to spoil the village look apparently. So they could dig it up and grow potatoes, or keep pigs, but they can’t put up a shed to store the ride on mower. Funny old world. 

 

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9 minutes ago, newhome said:

A friend of mine just pulled out of a house purchase due to an issue with the 3 acre ‘garden’. Sellers said it was garden, the searches showed that it was agricultural. She put in a request to see if at least some of it could be redefined as garden and it came back as a no, plus they could find no evidence of PP for the existing parking area being approved (that was apparently in the agricultural part too). Council didn’t want to spoil the village look apparently. So they could dig it up and grow potatoes, or keep pigs, but they can’t put up a shed to store the ride on mower. Funny old world. 

 

How long had it been used as "garden"? sounds like it might be a candidate for a certificate of lawful development if they can prove they have used it like that for long enough.

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4 minutes ago, ProDave said:

How long had it been used as "garden"? sounds like it might be a candidate for a certificate of lawful development if they can prove they have used it like that for long enough.

 

It’s a difficult one really. How do you prove that it’s been used as ‘garden’? It looks like a meadow but the parking area on the left has extended into the ‘meadow’. Plus the current owners have only owned it since 2011 so it gets complicated. The truth is that the council wants it looking exactly as it is today with trees and grass, not pigs or potatoes, and all my friend wanted to do was put a mower shed up and use it to exercise her dogs. 

 

 

 

 

 

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Just now, ProDave said:

If it's "agricultural" re name it a "tractor shed"

 

The seller was pressuring them to exchange, they wouldn’t without getting the details agreed so they pulled out. Pity because it is a lovely house. 

 

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Put the shed on wheels ?. We had the same wth our plot, half field ( agricultural we knew) and half garden, the council told us half the garden was agricultural, when I asked them how they knew this they quoted google earth!! , I then told  them google earth shows no fence or hedge and I could get a few family members to sign a declaration that as kids they played in the garden and their late grandfather kept it as such. They backed down. We did manage to include in our planning permission the use of the field entrance to also access our build as the entrance was more safe ( straight road and splays existed) the old house entrance had no splays and near a bend in the road. Also won on appeal to the Secretary of State.

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2 hours ago, joe90 said:

 

We have a muddy field adjacent to our build that I plan to turn into a meadow, the last rays of the sun shine in the bottom corner and that’s where I fancy a quiet place to drink tea/wine and meditate the day . My wife is a councillor and she fancies this quiet place to help people with their issues. I know I will never get planning for a building so I will put wheels on it and tow it with my dumper!.

 

p.s. we have woodlands next to us and an abundance of wildlife including deer and owls and it would make a perfect place to view them.

 

I have a relative who does that, who is very highly stressed this year due to workload. When I see her in Aug the teasing will be awful.

Edited by Ferdinand
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2 hours ago, newhome said:

 

 

How far do you have to move something to stay within the rules? 

 

 

 

 

Not a lot. If they come and say Oi! You ask how far it needs to be moved then move it that far plus a foot.

 

Watch advertising trailers in fields nex5 to the motorway, which I think is still done.

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