herdsman's cottage

Pauline · Post by **Pauline** » Mon May 26, 2008 11:05 pm

A local farming friend was commenting on the size of our herd( 18 animals),and said that by now we should be eligible for planning permission for a herdsman's cottage.I have never heard of this before.Is he correct?I wonder if this would have an agricultural tie attached,and whether the granting of permission does depend on herd size.I would appreciate any information.

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Tue May 27, 2008 9:45 pm

I have never heard of this but there are quite a lot of applications for herdmen's cottages on the web, so there's something to it. The one's I found seem to be applications to convert an existing barn or something like that.

Edited By Broomcroft on 1211921196

moomin · Post by **moomin** » Wed May 28, 2008 8:22 am

To get planning permission in England you have to proove an "agricultural need" to be on your farm/smallholding 24hrs. a day, i.e. a need to live there in order to look after your livestock. You need to set up your enterprise as a business. It used to be that you had to "earn enough to cover the wages of a skilled worker". This is no longer the law but some authorities still consider it this way.
We had to present a forward budget of our business [wish we could have achieved it!] and got permission for a mobile home for two years. We put the mobile home there first before applying for planning and did the planning retrospectively. It can be a long drawn out process, you have to stick with it. You stress the welfare of your livestock, 24/7 calving, lambing or farrowing. We had all 3 classes of stock. You need not own all the land, rented land counts if you farm it.
My advice is to put a mobile home up and wait for the planning authorities to contact you! Don,t ask permission first-it will be a NO. When the enforcement officer comes you say you have to be there to look after your animals and ask his help. If you live quite close to your land you are unlikely to get permission. We sold our house bought a 120 acre block of land and had nowhere else to live. So glad we did. 21 years on I am buiding an eco wood framed house with a grass roof [extra Dexter grazing]. Never been able to afford it before!
Am considering writing a book of my experiences entitled "Twenty one years with a porta-pottie"
Good luck from Di

Sylvia · Post by **Sylvia** » Wed May 28, 2008 8:53 am

Assuming that because you have already put a structure there, be it a caravan or a house, it will be easier to get permission for it to stay is only for those with iron nerves. Enforcement officers can and do order that buildings must be demolished. You can appeal but the decision could be the same. Planning rules are there to protect everyone, no matter how inconvenient they may sometimes seem - speak to your local planning office.

moomin · Post by **moomin** » Wed May 28, 2008 9:08 am

There is no problem with putting up any mobile structure without planning permission if you don't "sleep" in it. If it is your home then you will need permission but if it is used as an "office" or temporary use for say lambing, then you don't.
I made a friend of our enforcement officer - still am, and he has been most helpful, even helping me to fill in forms and telling me what to write. He could see we were genuine farmers not just playing at it in order to get permission.
Di

Anna · Post by **Anna** » Wed May 28, 2008 10:29 am

Are you not allowed to sleep in a mobile home on your own land? As long as you don´t bother your neighbours and take care of your waste and sewage in an appropriate way, can anyone stop you?

SueH · Post by **SueH** » Wed May 28, 2008 11:32 am

This an interesting topic, as this is a route we are about to go down ourselves. We have about 24 acres of our own and rent a further 38. We live about 12 miles away in a rented house, never owned our own home, it was a tied cottage until my husband was made redundant, now we have to pay for the pleasure! We are aiming to use a planning consultant, we know it will cost 2 -3 K, money we dont really have, but hope it will be worth the expense. We have 19 cows and 56 sheep at the moment and aim to get pigs this year so really hope we will be succesful, as we dream of our own home. any advice would be appreciated.

Louise Badcock · Post by **Louise Badcock** » Wed May 28, 2008 11:40 am

One useful argument for you to use would be the strict biosecurity needed to guard the integrity of your herd. My friend put a mobile caravan on the land, then added a block built shower and toilet area, having connected to the mains water and electricity. At a later date the caravan was replaced with a big static one. Her adult son lived in it full time. They have had no complaints or notices to quit. All this was after being refused pp in various applications for anew build or a barn conversion, despite being in an urban setting surrounded by housing on 3 sides.. Many of the refusals seemed to be on spurious grounds. After some years have elapsed they will put in for pp again.
Cheers Louise

Pauline · Post by **Pauline** » Thu May 29, 2008 10:32 am

We did once apply for P.P to build a hay barn,but it was refused. the local parish councillor said that there was no evidence of animal husbandry in sight,yet had to push his way through forty-one sheep to say it.Can you believe it?.

Sylvia · Post by **Sylvia** » Fri May 30, 2008 8:38 am

Hay barns are agricultural buildings and it should be just a formality to get permission for them on an agricultural holding unless you are in a very strict planning area (National Park etc) or they seriously interfere with domestic properties nearby.

welshdexterboy · Post by **welshdexterboy** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 11:34 pm

The idea of using your stock to get P P will work if you have enough man hours and can prove a need to be on sight. Sheep used to be worth 15mins a week I don't know if that has changed, cows were worth 1 hour/week.