A guide to buying farm buildings

If you want to buy farm buildings in the United Kingdom, there are several factors that you will need to take into consideration. These include ascertaining whether the buildings are listed, the amount of work that you can do on them, finding out how the land on which the buildings stand is graded, as well as its accessibility.

Factors concerning the building

Listed buildings
If a building is listed in the UK, you may be restricted with respect to what you can do to it structurally. As a general rule of thumb, buildings built prior to 1700, which resemble their original appearance, are listed. This is applicable to most buildings that are constructed between 1700 and 1840. A building has to be more than 30 years old to be listed unless there are exceptional circumstances. Permitted development rights
Familiarise yourself thoroughly with your permitted development rights. Set out in the Town and Country Planning Order of 1995, these allow someone the right to build, extend, excavate or effect engineering work on certain sites without obtaining full planning permission. Permitted development on 12 acres or more of agricultural land, is known as Class A development. It gives you the right to erect, extend or alter a building. The types of farm buildings
Depending on the intended use of the farm building, there are many options available. For instance, whether the building is wooden, steel-framed or prefabricated and whether there are farm sheds, metal or steel barns attached, will almost certainly play a significant role in its price.

Factors concerning the location

Accessibility
Many farms in the UK are served with good transport links such as decent roads and important facilities. Nonetheless, this depends largely on the county in which you decide to buy farm buildings. In some very remote counties, the lack of accessibility for the owners of the farm buildings can be a great difficulty. This is particularly the case if there is an emergency and you need to summon help or you need to leave the premises quickly. Prices
The price of a farm building will depend largely on its location. If it has easy access to a town or village and if it is surrounded by viable land, it will probably cost more money. However, regional variations also play a role. Any property in Greater London, parts of South East England and counties such as Buckinghamshire, are likely to be far more expensive than Wales or the West Midlands, for instance.