Home Design Advice
Transforming a farm building could give you a beautiful home that’s packed with character. Chris Bates reveals the essential considerations to help you achieve a successful barn conversion
Converting a barn represents a unique opportunity to carve out your own slice of idyllic country life, but it’s also a major undertaking. These structures – whether historic or new – weren’t built to deliver on comfort, so many will need a significant amount of work to bring them up to scratch.
Taking a sensitive approach to design and construction will ensure the original character shines out once the barn conversion is finished. So what can you do to make certain you pick the right property and draw out its full potential?
1. Finding a barn conversion
If you know the area you want to live in, then it’s worth contacting local estate agents – but bear in mind they may be more geared towards marketing finished homes than wrecks.
Learn more: Barn Conversion Ideas
You might also find potential barn conversionsadvertised in the local paper, or even spot a prime candidate by exploring the catchment. General property websites like Rightmove and Zoopla may list suitable opportunities, but for a more specialised search try Barns Etc or Renovate Alerts.
2. Arranging finance
Conventional mortgages don’t suit conversion projects, where you need funds released to support key phases of the works. Instead, you’ll choose a product that works more like a stage payment self-build mortgage. Leading broker BuildStore is a good place to start.
Build It reader Simon Baker fell in love with the Snowdonia landscape that surrounded an old barn on sale. “The place ticked all my boxes, though it had no formal planning permission to convert and was in a National Park with restrictive covenants,” he says.
3. Do I need planning permission?
Permitted development (PD) rights for change of use of agricultural buildings to residential only applies in England. While this is not done under a full planning application, you will still need to notify the council.
Check if your council asks for prior approval for contamination, noise impact, flood risk and vehicular access. The local authority will also assess if there is any harm in changing from agricultural to residential use. This process is not as easy as the headlines would suggest, but it is still simpler than the former route of making a full planning application.
Other caveats dictate that the agricultural structure must have been in existence as of 20th March 2013, and established for 10-plus years prior to this. The maximum size of dwelling allowed under PD rights is 465m2 either as one residence or split into several homes – up to a maximum of five. Bear in mind that you have to use the original structure, so you cannot knock it down and rebuild. Balconies are not permitted on barns.
4. Get a survey
Barns were usually built quickly and cheaply as simple stores or to meet other agricultural needs. It’s therefore important to have their stability checked out by a surveyor, architect or structural engineer before you buy.
Learn more: Building surveys for home renovation projects
Key areas of the building’s fabric to look over include the load bearing walls, roof structure and foundations. It’s pretty common for barns to need underpinning if you want to add a second storey, for example.
Armed with this information, you’ll be in a much better position to decide whether a barn conversion project is viable.
5. Choosing a barn conversion designer
You may think that, with the shell of a building already in place, there’s no need to hire an architect or similar professional.
In fact, barn conversion projects can be even more taxing at the design stages than new homes. It takes a lot of skill to maximise the potential of an existing structure; especially if it wasn’t initially intended as a dwelling.
The key is achieving the best balance between practical living space, the barn’s original character and making the most of features such as double-height space.
When Douglas Forrest from Acanthus Architects spotted a modern steel frame barn, he saw its potential. The finished conversion makes use of the structure’s stability to offer huge open-plan spaces, while the corrugated cladding affords an unusual industrial feel. The 300m2 home was completed for £350,000.
Steel Frame Barn Conversion
6. Retaining a barn’s character
The essential ingredient in your new home will be the design of the original barn, and it’s important to keep in mind why you were attracted to it in the first place.
Features such as old beams, timber cladding and beautiful stonework will bring unique character and quality to the finished result – so try to show these off to their full potential.
In this barn conversion by LAPD Architects, the roof trusses were adapted to create first floor accommodation. The internal timber frame and added insulation create thick walls, which act as very effective sound deadeners, and deep window sills that boost character
If you get it right, you’ll be rewarded with a wonderfully individual, and highly saleable, property. Where you do need to introduce new materials, try to do so sensitively and with respect to the local vernacular – but don’t be afraid to put a contemporary spin on things.
7. Insulating a barn conversion
Most working farm buildings are uninsulated, so one key job will be to upgrade the barn’s thermal performance to meet modern-day standards.
In most cases, you’ll want to preserve the external cladding (whether stone, brick, timber or metal). This means you’ll have to insulate the walls internally. Typically you would batten out and fit a breathable insulation such as sheepswool between the studs, which can then be covered with plasterboard.
