In eastern England, regional real estate auctions show growing interest among buyers in vacant farm buildings as pressure on rural housing grows.
“After revising the guidelines on permitted building rights, empty agricultural buildings have become one of the most valuable opportunities at regional real estate auctions,” auctioneers say.
Legislative changes last year increased the thresholds associated with permitted development rights for Class Q pre-approval applications. Permissible floor area increased to 483 sq. Ft. From 4842 sq. Ft. And the number of permissible units increased from three to five .
Changes in legislation have helped developers, buyers of excess agricultural buildings to give greater confidence to their purchases, which led to higher prices. For example, a seventeenth-century barn listed in Grade II in Great Yeldham near Braintree, set on four acres of over 1,750 square feet, brought in £ 160,000 at auction. Similarly, a brick shed on the outskirts of Fenstanton, Cambridgeshire, which was planned to be converted into two residential buildings, was sold for £ 294,000.
Prices are now much less dependent on whether the site has a planning permission, and whether there is permission to rebuild the building, land agents say, and continue that “Buyers are confident that they can reach agreement in a relatively quick time and change within reasonable limits the layout and purpose of the building. ”
