Policy information sourced from the Braintree District Council Local Plan 2013-2033.

LPP 40: Residential Conversion of Buildings in the Countryside.

The conversion of rural buildings that are of permanent and substantial construction and capable of conversion, without complete re-building, to residential use will be permitted where they meet all the following criteria:

  • The site is no longer suitable and has been marketed for commercial use;
  • There is no unacceptable impact on protected species or heritage assets and their settings;
  • The site is served by a suitable existing access;
  • There is no unacceptable impact on residential amenity;
  • There is no unacceptable impact on the character of the site or the surrounding countryside and its landscape value.

Applications for such proposals must be supported by a frame survey, structural survey and, where listed, a heritage statement setting out the implications of the development on the special architectural or historic interest of the subject building/s and their setting. Where considered appropriate surveys will be required for protected species that may include but is not limited to, bats and barn owls.

For more information, please visit Braintree District Council’s Local Plan here.