Building a barn conversion

[dixie]

Has anyone converted a barn?

We’ve been House hunting for way over 2 yrs now and this wouldn’t normally be on our radar. However two 6acre plots have come up in our ideal location, both with barns.

We’re viewing later this week and probably will get pushed out by developers but wondered if anyone on here has had the experience and expense of doing one.

One is a solid galvanise type barn with electric and water already. Not the falling down type of barn. No planning permission either but think Q class is likely.

 

[Red-1]

Yes, we bought this place with a farmhouse, barn and stables. We actually bought it so mum bought the barn, most of the land, 2 stables and a store and we bought the farmhouse, a little land and the arena 3 stables and a store. There was a further derelict building we made a garage each from.

Mum's barn was built a year after purchase. She bought it without permission and just crossed fingers!

Best bit about it is the huuuuuge amount of insulation she put in, plus the oil fired underfloor heating. It is a very warm barn. So well insulated, it is also cool in summer. Most of it was retained at double height. We also out a fan in there for mixing the air. It is super in summer, real cool breeze.

Decorating the main area costs a fortune for proper scaffolding.

It feels so light and airy.

Sadly, mum became ill and had to move out in 2019. happily, we had already made it so either of us could sell without causing issue to the other. The new neighbours love it too.

There were a few issues. Turns out it didn't have proper foundations so needed extra exploration. The roof was supposed to be preserved, as per planning, but when it came to the building, it was not saveable. Happily, the planners sent someone to confirm this and they agreed, so it needed a new roof, including trusses.

Mum brought it in to budget and on time but because of the earlier issues, this meant compromising on fittings/decoration. The new neighbours have done it now though. Mum lived there for 20 years.

Because it was so well built, nothing much needed doing to it in the 20 years she was there.

 

[dixie]

Brilliant - sounds like a great decision you made there.
Good to hear you can actually make barns warm !!
It’s the unknown costs that are a worry. But that’s way down the line atm.

There’s local developer who does this type of thing and then sells for over a million. So got to try and get in before them- unlikely but worth a look and try.

 

[Spotherisk]

We were going to buy one in mid Devon, big pole barn, it got Class Q in the end and was converted and looked amazing. Our little barn is only about 15 years old, very well insulated to keep warm, way too hot in summer though.

If I were you 8 would absolutely go for it! Luscombe Maye have a very good reputation on the planning front, and there are some fab architects around.

 

[claracanter]

We have just put in an offer on one!!!

 

[PeterNatt]

JUst ensure that you instruct a reputable planning consultant and architect to get the planning consent for you and that you appoint a surveyor/site manager to organise the works for you and to sign off the stage payments to the contractors.

 

[Red-1]

Brilliant - sounds like a great decision you made there.
Good to hear you can actually make barns warm !!
It’s the unknown costs that are a worry. But that’s way down the line atm.

There’s local developer who does this type of thing and then sells for over a million. So got to try and get in before them- unlikely but worth a look and try.

This is mum's, photos taken 20 years after conversion, when she was selling...



It would have been bigger inside, as there were big pillars, 4 each side, that would have been designed round, but, with the unexpected expenses and mum's insistence it came in on budget, it was more expensive to faff with the pillars so they just made the walls flat. If you look at the windows, the whole lot was insulated. There was a huge amount of insulation. The roof was also well insulated. She was restricted to the type of window to wooden, but they were at least double glazed and they hadn't stated that they had to remain wood when replaced so they were replaced with wood effect PU glazing afterwards.

I say it came in on time, in fact she ended up moving in while there was still no water connected! The plumbing was all in place, the plumber was dragging his feet so she stated she was moving in and when, to his surprise, she did (with a bucket by the toilet and a hose pipe from our house) he hot footed it up here to connect it up that evening.

She had also planned on having it all decorated, but with the budget she had the decorator do the full height area and she decorated the lower areas herself. She also had a budget kitchen.

For a sense of scale, they are 2 6 seater dining tables in there, that could easily seat 8 apiece. 2 huge dressers, 3 piece suite, separate kitchen table.

It was well worth doing as mum was very happy here, with a ground floor bedroom (more upstairs) and 3 downstairs bathroom/toilets. It made it easier as her mobility declined.

I would highly recommend the underfloor oil heating, no rads to bother with and the whole floor heated up, which the dogs loved.

She used a local architect and a local building firm and rented a house locally so she could oversee. The barn won an award.

 

[dixie]

I love your mum - she sounds like a real go getter !!

Amazing space inside that barn too and looks nice and light.

 

[blitznbobs]

Yep we did one on a Q It was remarkably straight forward.

 

[cariadbach10]

You can have the local council out to do a ‘pre-app’ visit even before you buy the place. This will give you an idea of whether you stand a chance of getting permission or not and what kind of hoops you’ll have to jump through. It’s free. I don’t know why more people don’t do it.
We bought our farm with loads of old knackered barns from various eras on it in 2016. We’ve converted seven into accommodation through a mixture of class q and just ‘normal’ permissions. OH is in construction so we have had an advantage, admittedly!

 

[sbloom]

I'd want to look into how to insulate a class Q in terms of bridging on a metal framework. We looked elsewhere for other reasons (beautiful plot in Scotland and so much cheaper, already with OPP) but this concerned us as we want an eco house, cheap to run, to see us into old age.

 

[blitznbobs]

I'd want to look into how to insulate a class Q in terms of bridging on a metal framework. We looked elsewhere for other reasons (beautiful plot in Scotland and so much cheaper, already with OPP) but this concerned us as we want an eco house, cheap to run, to see us into old age.

This is really easy just use kingspan or similar on the inside

 

[sbloom]

This is really easy just use kingspan or similar on the inside

In some cases that doesn't fix the bridging, I know what insulation is (though we're building 50cm hempcrete walls instead) but because you have to use the structure as is it can make things more complicated between roof and walls. We're quite sure we're getting better insulative values with what we're doing though currently working through the engineering solution for where and how to place barrel roof glu-lams on top of hempcrete walls. Just thought I'd mention it.

 

[PurBee]

As the sites youre interested in have no residential classed buildings on them, and have a good acreage, its likely barns will be classed as agri buildings aswell as the land.
First port of call would be to assess whether you’d get land and building registration to a changed use, especially residential is tricky with ag. land, unless you’re engaging in agri business.

It would be worth having a chat with local agri planners in your area of interest and asking them the likelihood of getting residential/equestrian use (presumably?) planning on agri land and buildings in that area.

You’ll see lots of barns for sale with quarter acre site by a roadside with OPP for conversion, nearby to other houses, as that would be easy to get.
But thats a vastly different scenario to many acres and barn in field, down a quiet lane, private, listed as agriculture use, being given permission for change of use and status to residential and leisure equestrian use.

If you could find a really run-down, ivy-covered derelict residential cottage on the land with a large barn and a few acres, that may be used for agri use now, but also once had a residential cottage on it, so that area of the cottage/outbuildings nearby tend to be classed as residential, enabling far easier pursuit of residential renovation planning.

However, if youre engaged in an agri business - definitions roughly being supplying home reared produce of any kind for consumption by society, and make 25k per year from it annually, you’d have a far easier time of getting planning for residence on agri land IF you can satisfy conditions you need to be resident on the land (protection of livestock 24/7, security, scheduled maintenance of ‘produce’ many times a day etc)

I’d have a chat with local agri planning specialists in your desired area about your idea. All councils operate differently, as some land is considered more ‘sacred’ than others, for various (valid) reasons.

 

[sbloom]

@PurBee https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/advice/class-q, it's a bit different.

Interestingly a large local class Q that was for sale with plans for two semis didn't sell, it really didn't work well in my opinion, the way they'd done it. There are now two new build barn-alikes in its place.

 

[spacefaer]

Round us (Shropshire) it's virtually impossible to buy convertible barns privately as you're outbid by the developers every time.
There was one a couple of years ago asking price just over £200k. Isolated position on a bank overlooking the whole valley. Services to it, brick built, semi derelict, ivy covered private access track.
Went to sealed bids and sold for over £300k .
Impossible to compete with that!

 

[starbucker]

Hi OP,

I work as an architect, you're in luck planning wise with there being an existing building on site, however its not always an easy ride as planners are getting increasingly strict with this kind of thing and depends how leniant the local council are.

Some key points to check:
- your main issues with planning will likely be good access, eg. visibility turning on to the road, the higher speed the road the longer visibility needs to be
- Check you're not in a greenbelt or conservation area - as they can be strict on this
- Check any rights of way which may affect the workability of the site
,
You will also likely need ecology survey, bat surveys, tree surveys for any trees within falling distance, structural surveys, structural engineer etc.