The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Buildings & planning => Topic started by: KatieS on November 07, 2017, 05:12:58 pm
-
Hi,
Me and my partner would love to buy a small bit of land out in the countryside to run a small campsite and smallholding and eventually build a little eco home to live there.
I've been researching planning rules etc but it would be great to get some advice.
Ideally we're looking for c2-3acres of flat pasture land in surrey/sussex so probably in the Green belt, no other restrictions.
Is our plan a pipedream or is there a chance we could get the council to give us permission? How should we go about it?
Thank you for any advice :-)
-
Hi, not really my area of expertise but I would suggest that you need to be looking for land with an existing building or ruin that you could convert, this "may" make the process a tad easier. Planners are not your friend in the countryside. preparing a business plan will also be a pre-requisite.
hope that helps
-
I'll be honest and say it's not going to happen. You'll only get a house if you need to live there. Land that small can't support enough animals to require it and a campsite definitely doesn't
Sorry
-
You have to understand why planning rules evolved in the first place, and why some areas are designated as green belt. :farmer:
It is just to prevent the sort of piecemeal development in open countryside that you see as your dream. If everyone who wanted to was allowed to follow their dream of buying a bit of land, starting a little business and building a low impact dwelling, then the countryside would end up as an unregulated mess. we don't have enough land here in Britain for this to happen. Sorry if that sounds harsh :bouquet: but these rules are necessary to protect our green and pleasant land.
-
What makes a eco house?Presumeably you will still require a bin collection/local school/road maintainance/and be using a vehicle.....all these services are more expensive for your local authority to maintain if you live in a rural area..
Other services like broadband/electricity/water are heavily subsidized by your urban dweller..
It is government policy to control housing development in rural areas for fiscal reasons.......not sure it's a green agenda.