Barn to Dwelling after Four Years

A client from Suffolk farmed approximately 16 hectares (40 acres) of land from his base in Norfolk.

To enable him to farm the land effectively a barn built for the stock was also used as residential accommodation both during the day and three to four nights per week. This allowed the stock to be fed, watered and checked daily.

The Local Authority considered this to be a Change of Use from a barn to a dwelling and enforced against the client.

An enforcement appeal was submitted.

The main argument surrounded how long the barn had been used as a dwelling. It was successfully argued that this had been for four years prior to submission of the enforcement notice. Four years is the period after which the formation of a dwelling becomes exempt from enforcement.

The barn can now legitimately be used as a permanent dwelling.