14 replies to this topic

[dorsetfamilyman]

Hi all...
Does anyone know if there is anything different with looking to live on farm land owned by my mother. She at present has someone else using the land but it will be available come March. She lives there in the farmhouse and I am hoping to site a cabin to live in along with my family on the land and run a smallholding. I have not yet approached the planners with a request of farm managers accomadation due to my mother being in her 's but as it is no longer a farm run by her I thought this would not be possible.
So, I hope to farm alpaca or something along those lines in order to gain access to living on site. Partly to be there for my mother and also to enjoy a full life with my family instead of 9-5 rat race we all know and despise.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Also if you haven't bought this book available on the site, do so, it is brilliant.WELL DONE DAVE

[surreydodger]

Hi Dorset and welcome to the forum

I would hold off going to seek advice from the planning office just yet. Remember, their advice is not imparial (no matter what they may say on their website!!) and they have yet to prove themselves in being a body to show folk the best way to ensure development.

Is your mother's house part of the farm unit? How big an acreage is the farm? With those two bits of info to hand we might make a better comment on your way forward if at all possible.

[Groundhog]

Hi What is your definition of a cabin ?

[dorsetfamilyman]

Hi Surreydodger
Thanks for getting back. My Mothers house is indeed within the farm boundary but not registered as being on the farm for the single farm payment purposes. As for the size, we have 34 acres available in total although about 2 of those are low lying and very boggy ground. Thanks again for taking the time to read my problems and I appreciate any advise.
kind regards.

[dorsetfamilyman]

Hi Derek O
My cabin is basically a glorified shed. Wooden construction with 2 skins and insulation within. I intent on constructing it completely on top of a steel frame with wheels so it can be moved. In total it is 20 metres long and 6.5 metres wide. The height is within the restrictions.
kind regards

[Groundhog]

If you are happy with the moveable structure to house your family I wonder if you can use it as seasonal workers accomadation,does the farm already have a trading name ie is your mum a partner because I presume then you would be carrying on an existing business technicaly! Would be interested to know how it stands when it is family hope someone can advise you

[surreydodger]

Hi Dorset,

There seems to be two ways to progress but both would not, as with most planning matters, be without a bit of argy-bargy with the planning department.

It is permissable to put a mobile home within the curtialge of the exisitng house (your mothers) and for that mobile to be used in what is called, 'ancillary use'. By this, you could use the mobile home for you and your family to live in but use the main home for certain usues. The prime example is that all meals are taken within your mothers house and maybe one could use the washing facilities as well. In my own mind, I do not think this would preclude if the mobile home had some washing facilities within it or even a kitchen fitted,,, the principle being that just because they happen to be there does not mean you make use of them.

I think for this to have the best chance of success would mean that you and your family register as living at your mother's home, which would result in a variatioon of the council tax your mother has to pay.

You would also need to closely check the deeds of your mothers house so as to define the garden curtilage to ensure the mobile home can be placed within it. If it lies outside of the curtialge, the planners can deem a change of use of the land, i.e. agricultural to residential.

And of course, your decision has to have a consideration towards your mothers feelings.

Alternatively, your mother could sell off the land to you. The first thing to this is to check whether there are any planning ties between the land and the house though I rather suspect this is an older property which was built before such planning complications were introduced. If the house is under an agricultural occupancy then this too may cause complicatioons and indeed to the idea of siting a mobile within the garden curtilage.

If there are no agricultural ties to the house then once you have taken ownership of the land, you would go down the F2F route as prescribed in the book.

It won't be simple which ever way you choose to go, as said earlier, plannig equals headache. I also would not discard your own idea of building a managers style dwelling but I suspect the chances of proving a justified need on only 34 acres will be against you. You might have some joy in pursuing it on the basis of being there to help your mother run the 'family business' but that is outside the rmit of this forum.

Just one word re your mobile home/cabin. I see you are fully aware of the dimensions but I trust you are also aware that to meet the requirement of 'mobile', the structure must be capable of being split into two pieces and transported once you start talking about those sort of sizes. It can arrive on site in a million different parts if you so wish but once erected it must then be 'capable' of being moved in two pieces,, whether you ever do that or not is not relevant.

[surreydodger]

Was just about to go back up the field and saw this,,,,
LINK

Absolutely love the last retort

[Lynne]

Was just about to go back up the field and saw this,,,,
LINK

Absolutely love the last retort

That last reply made me chuckle, good on him

[che]

Hi Surreydodger,
Excellent site perhaps some of us should be using it aswell. Nothing like getting in amongst them particularly when they start to break ranks. That last comment must have really hurtbut I am sure Charlotte will get over it.

Dave C

[happymanoftheworld]

Ho-ho! What a great guy the farmer must be.
I find it humorous that the planners have a counter-website to us!

[dorsetfamilyman]

Hi Surrey.
Many thanks for your reply in regards to my thoughts. Tell me, can I use my mothers farm land to site the mobile home on if I rent it from her? I am hoping to site a mobile unit within the agricultural land and farm alpaca. There is an existing barn I can use for storage etc but would need to be on site for the alpaca welfare. As the barn is already in place I would not need to build another or is that not right?
Many thanks again for your advise.
kind regards

[happymanoftheworld]

There is an existing barn I can use for storage etc but would need to be on site for the alpaca welfare. As the barn is already in place I would not need to build another or is that not right?
Many thanks again for your advise.
kind regards

I would be measuring the barn, seeing if it is at the maximum size and if not, thinking of deliberately adding an extension or overhang even if you don't need it, therefore making yourself liable for putting in the 28 day notice, thereby giving you the five years temporary residence..... but that is my thoughts which others may disagree with. If you intend to just use the existing barn "as is" with no engineering works, then you would have to put in for temporary planning which they may well refuse.... also that will cost you a planning application fee AND it will only give you three years. Good luck.
Addenda - later in evening! Just thought - a national tabloid paper in my area was prepared to give me a lot of publicity - provided I would say that the animals would be slaughtered, which I was not prepared to say. However, it is amazing how local papers can give support if rare breeds are concerned. Worth a try - planners can be swayed by people power.

[surreydodger]

Hi Dorset,

Tell me, can I use my mothers farm land to site the mobile home on if I rent it from her?

I suspect to do that you would have to satisfy somehow, the need for you to be living on the farm in a second home. You'd need to prove to them the need for it to be there and is the farm unit capable of supporting your dwelling. The fact that you are renting the land rather than owning it won't be in your favour as to gain such approval usually requires ownership of at least some of the land.

Whether there is a slant on you being 'family' to the owner and thus there as part of the family business as Dave C alluded to above, I don't know but it might be worth investigating any such rights?

I'd also look to see if any further building works can be carried out as HappyMan says in his post. This could be an in to setting up the farm as prescribed in the book, but you would still have to address the land ownership details.

[surreydodger]

Hi Dorset,

This appeal was refused but it does seem to have some similar qualities to your own predicament. Pay particular attention to paragraph 13 which showed the Inspector was probably willing to allow the appeal if the appellant had accepted his conditions. It can't be seen what those conditions were, though I suspect it was just to prevent a third house being built if the fathers house was sold off.

http://www.pembrokes...=4695&language=