Policy information sourced from the Aylesbury Local Plan

H3 Rural workers dwellings

Requirements for all rural workers’ dwellings

All new dwellings for an agricultural, forestry or rural worker will only be permitted if all of the following criteria are met:

  • The need relates to a full-time worker (someone employed to work solely or mainly in the relevant occupation) and does not relate to a part-time requirement
  • There is a functional need for a worker to live at, or in the immediate vicinity of, their place of work (considering the requirements of the activities, operations and security of the enterprise and not personal preferences or circumstances). For a temporary dwelling, the need is essential to support a new rural business activity and for a permanent dwelling, there is an essential existing functional need. By itself, the protection of livestock from theft or injury by intruders does not establish need, nor do requirements arising from food processing or agricultural contracting, and nor does a retirement home for a former farmer. Conventional methods of forestry management are unlikely to give rise to an essential functional need.
  • The functional need could not be fulfilled by any other means. For example, applicants will need to demonstrate why agricultural, forestry or other essential rural workers could not live in nearby towns or villages, or make use of accommodation already existing on the farm, area of forestry or business unit. Where applicable, the council will take into account the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development)(England) Order 2015 Schedule 2 Part 3 Class Q for changes of use from agricultural buildings to dwellings.
  • It is sited so as to meet the identified functional need and is related to existing farm, forestry or rural business buildings, or other dwellings where these exist on or adjacent to the unit for which the functional need has been established.
  • Suitable accommodation has not been sold separately from the land within the last five years, including that which might have been converted

Temporary rural workers’ dwellings

The council will not normally give temporary permission in a location where a permanent dwelling would not be permitted. New temporary dwellings for an agricultural, forestry or rural worker will only be permitted if all of the following additional criteria are also met:

  • The future economic viability of the enterprise to which the proposed dwelling relates can be demonstrated by a sound business plan. This should demonstrate that the proposed enterprise has been planned on a sound financial basis with a reasonable prospect of delivering a sustainable profit before or by the expiry of the temporary period that the proposal seeks to secure.
  • it takes the form of a caravan, a wooden structure, or other temporary accommodation of the minimum size required to support the proposed new rural business activity.

The council will not normally grant extensions to a temporary permission over a period of more than three years. If permission for a permanent building is subsequently sought, the merits of the proposal will be assessed against the criteria in this policy relating to permanent occupational dwellings in the countryside.

Permanent rural workers’ dwellings

New permanent dwellings for an agricultural, forestry or rural worker will only be permitted if all of the following additional criteria are also met:

  • The economic viability of the enterprise to which the proposed dwelling relates can be demonstrated by satisfying the ‘financial test’ applied by the council. This should demonstrate that the enterprise to which the application relates:
    • has been established for a continuous period of at least the previous three years and in the case of an enterprise consisting of more than one activity, those three years shall apply to the latest activity relating to the application
    • has been profitable (in a realistic sense, taking account of the nature of the enterprise) for at least one of those three years and
    • is financially sound on that date and has a clear prospect of remaining so
  • Agricultural, forestry or other occupational dwellings should be commensurate in size to the established functional requirement. In determining the appropriate size of a dwelling, the council will consider the requirements of the enterprise rather than those of the owner or occupier. New dwellings must be of the minimum size and an appropriate design commensurate with the established functional requirement and reflective of the enterprise’s financial projections unless robustly justified. The council will not permit dwellings that are:
    • unusually large in relation to the agricultural, forestry or rural business needs of the unit, with net useable floor space not normally larger than 180 sqm for the initial dwelling and 120 sqm for each dwelling thereafter. This threshold excludes garaging but including associated offices such as a farm office. Or
    • unusually expensive to construct in relation to the income the unit can sustain in the long term.

Permitted Development Rights may be removed in order to ensure that a dwelling is not subsequently extended to a size which exceeds its functional requirement.

Occupancy conditions and removal of conditions

Planning permission will be granted subject to a planning condition or S106 protecting its continued use by agricultural, forestry and other rural workers. An agricultural, forestry or rural worker occupancy condition will only be lifted if it can be demonstrated that both of the following criteria are met:

  • A suitable sustained attempt has been made to advertise and market the dwelling for sale or rent without any unreasonable restriction and with amenity land proportionate to its size and at a price that reflects the occupancy restriction for a continuous period of at least 12 months or an appropriate period as agreed with the Local Planning Authority. This should be evidenced through relevant documents such as marketing and valuation reports, which have been independently assessed* before submission to the council
  • The rural worker dwelling no longer serves a need in connection with the holding to which it relates and there is no agricultural, forestry or rural worker occupational need elsewhere that it could reasonably service, nor is it likely that any such needs will arise in the foreseeable future.

The council would not expect an occupational dwelling for an essential rural worker to be severed from the business unit to which it is tied, unless the business fails. In particular, the council would be unlikely to support any subsequent application to remove an occupational condition on such a severed dwelling or any future application for a new dwelling relating to the business. Even if the business to which the dwelling relates fails, the council would expect every reasonable effort to be made to retain the occupational dwelling. The council would apply the same principles as it would to a proposal to remove an agricultural or forestry condition.

Proposals for the removal of an agricultural or forestry condition will be considered on the basis of an up-to-date assessment of the demand for farm or forestry dwellings in the locality and not just on the particular farm or forestry holding. When considering proposals to remove the occupancy condition for an essential rural worker, the council will need to be convinced that the dwelling is no longer needed for the continuing rural enterprise. Alternatively, in the event that the enterprise fails, it will need to be demonstrated that the dwelling is not needed for any proposed new use with planning permission or to meet a wider need in the locality for an occupational dwelling for an agricultural, forestry or essential rural worker.

*the independent assessment should be by an assessor approved by the council.

Policy information sourced from the Aylesbury Local Plan