I have been looking at a timber / log cabin mobile home lodge to be located on my family farm, and I am very interested in your products – a 2 or 3 bedroom lodge, fully winterised.

However, key to making any progress is to address the issue of planning permission.

is the location in one of the fields then? it will much easier if you can locate it in the garden

I fully recognise that planning permission would be my responsibility rather than yours, but maybe you might have guidance / advice, or alternatively can suggest how others have approached the planning dilemma.

yes we can guide you in the right direction

I understand I will need formal permission to site a mobile home / certificate of lawful use as this will not be within my permitted development rights.

a certificate of lawful use is for something that is also legal like a permitted development… if it’s in the garden and legal not needing planning then you can have that confirmed by applying for a certificate… in the instance where a certificate will not be granted you will need to apply for planning permission.

The farm is just outside Henley in Oxfordshire. The farm is 80 acres, with a farmhouse in one corner and a farmyard in the middle. The farm is in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which will probably complicate planning.

nice 🙂

The idea is to site the lodge in the farmyard. In terms of precedent, there is currently a disused Portakabin alongside some other barns; we had a large static caravan sited on the farmyard some years ago; and a small touring caravan has been on site for many years.

ok that could be critical… how long has the caravan been on-site? is it in the general location you want the new one?

The farmyard itself is secluded in the middle of the farm, is more than 100 metres from a public road, is not overlooked by any houses – so a lodge will not be visible to anyone else. Additional screening by trees is perfectly possible.

sounds lovely… but in terms of planning it offers no protection… you need to sort these things at the start if you want to invest in a proper home… although it fine for static caravans etc… I sure you want the security of knowing it’s all legal.

The intended usage for the lodge would be as follows:

• Occasional overnight visits for friends / family
• Toilet / washing facilities for those working on the farm / visiting
• Potential use for agricultural tourism

has the exiting caravan been onsite for over 10 years? not the specific one… but the one before and this one.. does it tally over 10 years?

The justification for the lodge can be built out further if necessary (seasonal accommodation for farmworkers, etc).

ok it might come to that

The lodge is not intended to be a full-time residence and would be ancillary to the main farmhouse (though 300 metres from the actual farmhouse).

How do you suggest progressing? Do you have any advice you can give, or do you have any Planning Consultants you recommend?

Yes our consultants ’Tozers’ are linked below…

Happy to chat through by phone or email.