A Great Success Under Class Q

Bourne Rural has secured approval for the change of use of an agricultural building to one 2-bedroom dwelling under the latest Class Q provisions, introduced in May 2024. Furthermore, we have also secured approval under Regulation 77 of the Habitats Regulations, required due to the potential of the development to have a significant effect on a European site. Although great news on its own, the complexities of the application site and its planning history and land uses made this win feel even bigger than normal.

The clients own land within Hampshire which is used for sheep grazing and incorporates an agricultural barn and a ‘stable’ building used for sheepdog breeding. The authorised use of the land was far from clear.

A failed retrospective application for a rural worker’s dwelling culminated in the issue of an enforcement notice (EN) and it was at this stage that Bourne Rural were brought on board to deal with the EN appeal.

Then May 2024 came along, and with it came the new Class Q provisions. One amendment to the provisions was the new requisite date of 24 July 2023 at which time the agricultural building in question needed to be in an agricultural use. We considered that we had enough evidence to meet that requirement and decided to take the chance to submit a prior approval application under Class Q for the existing agricultural barn on site whilst the appeal was ongoing.

Initially, the planning officer was minded to refuse the application due to uncertainty in relation to the use of the site for the breeding of sheepdogs (non-agricultural activity?). However, we referred the planning officer back to the EN which specifically identified the use of the land as agricultural and residential. If there was another use ongoing on the land at the time the EN was issued, it should have been identified.

The planning officer continued to resist, but we fought hard for our clients and, after a flurry of emails between ourselves and the officer, we unexpectedly received a decision notice confirming that ‘Prior Approval is Approved’!

This week, we finally managed to get the Regulation 77 application signed off.

By achieving this permission for the client, they now have an unfettered dwelling on their land. As you can imagine, the clients are absolutely delighted!

“You helped us to achieve what we have always wanted. A big thank you!”