Agricultural permitted development is the part of the order that lets a working agricultural unit put up buildings and works reasonably necessary for agriculture without a planning application, and it is read by the size of the holding: a larger unit has the fuller class, with a prior notification to the authority on siting, design and appearance for the bigger buildings, and a unit under the smaller threshold has a narrower class limited to extensions and alterations. What can I build on agricultural land without planning permission is the question a developer asks on a field edge, and the answer is that agricultural permitted development rights belong to agriculture on an agricultural unit, not to a buyer of a paddock who intends a house: a building put up under Part 6 must be for the farming of the land, the authority may require its removal if the use ends, and a barn built to be converted is the breach the classes are written against. This page sets out agricultural land permitted development as the developer reads it on a holding, and where the rights hand over to class Q and class R.
The two classes, and the hectares that divide them
The fuller class applies to an agricultural unit of at least the threshold area and allows new buildings, excavations and engineering works reasonably necessary for the purposes of agriculture within the unit, subject to size, height and distance limits and a prior notification for the larger buildings; the narrower class applies below the threshold and allows extensions, alterations and works to existing buildings within tighter limits and no new buildings. Permitted development on agricultural land less than 5 hectares is therefore a short list, and a developer who buys a small paddock has bought almost none of Part 6.
The prior notification and the agricultural purpose
For the larger buildings under the fuller class the developer notifies the authority before beginning and the authority may require its prior approval of siting, design and external appearance; the building must still be reasonably necessary for agriculture on that unit, and the authority reads the size of the holding, the enterprise and the building together. A building erected under the class and not used for agriculture within a period the order sets, or ceasing to be so used, may have to be removed and the land restored, which is the condition that stops a barn being built to be converted.
Where Part 6 hands over to class Q and class R, and what the file keeps
A building put up under Part 6 recently cannot be converted under class Q or class R until the period the order names has passed, and the classes count the holding's history: the developer reading a holding needs the date each building went up, the class it went up under and the use it has had since. Curtilo Pro keeps that history against the holding with the buildings on it, so the agricultural reading, the class Q sheet and the class R reading on the same unit are made from one record; the order cited below sets the thresholds, and the authority's own answer at prior notification is the ruling.
Questions people ask about agricultural permitted development
Can I build a house on agricultural land under permitted development?
No. Part 6 allows buildings for agriculture on a working unit; a dwelling is class Q on a qualifying agricultural building or a planning application. Building a barn to convert it is the breach the order excludes by time limit.
What counts as an agricultural unit?
Agricultural land occupied as a unit for the purposes of a trade or business of agriculture, including land held with it. Its area decides which Part 6 class applies, and the guide on class Q sets out how the unit's history bears on conversion.
Does the narrower class allow any new building?
No. Below the threshold the class allows extensions and alterations of existing buildings and limited works within tight size limits, and no new building. The order cited below sets the figures.
Sources
- legislation.gov.uk, GPDO 2015 Schedule 2 Part 6: agricultural and forestry development, the five-hectare classes and the prior notification
- legislation.gov.uk, GPDO 2015 Schedule 2 Part 3: changes of use, including class Q (agricultural buildings to dwellinghouses) and class R (agricultural buildings to flexible commercial use)
- GOV.UK planning practice guidance, When is permission required: development, permitted development rights, prior approval and article 4 directions