Farmers have always needed accommodation for staff required to work unsocial
hours and local planners sometimes agree to a residential property being built
in an otherwise rural location on the strict condition that it is only used by
a key farm worker. This restriction will be enshrined in an agricultural covenant
intended to prevent the property then being occupied by anyone not employed full
time in agriculture. It is a form of tied accommodation.
Similar restrictions
may also apply to property built on a horticultural holding. This means one cannot
buy a smallholding and merely treat the land as a large garden. If the horticultural
business closes, the planning permission for the property becomes invalid. There
may be room for negotiation if the planners are persuaded that the holding no
longer generates sufficient revenue to give the owners a living. They may well
agree to a compromise where one member of the family continues to run the smallholding
commercially while their partner follows an outside occupation. However, if the
business were to be neglected deliberately then a condition of the planning permission
would be in breach which could well lead to expensive legal problems.
Most
local authorities in rural areas have a strict policy on agricultural (and horticultural)
tenancies and it is by no means certain that the planners will agree to a covenant
being lifted even when the agricultural employment no longer exists.
If
you are interested in buying a property which remains subject to an agricultural
covenant it may sound extremely cheap compared to a similar property without this
occupational restriction but, in many areas, green-belt countryside, for example,
the planners would rather see the property left empty and fall into disrepair
than agree a change of use. They will argue that a single breach of their strict
policy would create an unacceptable precedent.
Accordingly, before getting
too excited over the attractive price of the property, best advice is to get your
solicitor to check out the exact terms of the agricultural covenant and whether
there may be room for compromise .
