After his plans to build from scratch were rejected by the planners, Jamie Davison realised he could convert an existing barn under Class Q rules

WORDS ALEXAN DRA PRATT

PHOTOS EXPOSURE PHOTO AGENCY

When Jamie Davison’s brother bought a property on six acres in 2017, the family were keen to build another house on the land. The countryside setting near the River Tees meant that getting planning permission for any form of development was going to be a challenge. So, after their planning application for a new build was refused, they instead turned their attention to the idea of converting one of the existing barns into a new home.

The barn Jamie earmarked was a steel frame agricultural shed that had been extended a couple of times over the years and used as machine storage. It was large enough to be turned into two, semidetached properties, so Jamie looked at how the building could be transformed into separate homes for himself and his parents.

Getting planning permission

Jamie works in the building trade, so knew from experience that obtaining planning permission in the area wouldn’t be plain sailing, but he was surprised at just how many barriers were thrown in his path for this home conversion project. As the planning process dragged on for two-and-a-half years, Jamie brought planning consultant Chris Megson on board. “He was brilliant – we might not have got permission without him,” says Jamie. “He knew what questions to ask and how to fight the regulations.” The conversion was allowed under Class Qrules – a type of planning permission specifically for transforming agricultural buildings into homes. Although this type of consent is considered to be permitted development (where formal planning isn’t required), there’s still a prior approval process to go through with the local authority.