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Before I go on, I can offer the consolation that as government departments go, you'll find dealing with local planners a lot better then dealing with DEFRA, but only just. Given also that you will probably need a professional to help with planning applications, you will be one stage removed and life will be less stressful as a result - amen to that.
If you come across a property with an agricultural restriction; (Agricultural Tie)
a) There will be less lenders around willing to advance a mortgage on it and;
b) A restriction will have an impact on valuation so you will need to take care where you find one.
An Agricultural Restriction (Agricultural Tie) is a condition imposed by a Planning Authority when granting planning consent for the building of a dwelling. Sometimes it is wrapped up as part of a section 106 agreement (of which more later) and the process begins with an application for planning consent or permission to build a dwelling. The Local Planning Authority (LPA) may grant planning consent but, in cases where development might not usually be given (such as in the country), the LPA will seek to restrict the type of person entitled to occupy the property in an attempt to limit usage to what the property was initially built for.
Double Dutch? - Then let me put it this way; As a rule, only HM Government can build a council estate in green belt so in order to stop you building something which might be considered to blight visual amenity (as if the council estate doesn't) you will only normally get consent to build a dwelling where there is a justifiable reason for it. So, you make your application to build an agricultural worker's dwelling, your Architect or Planning Consultant gives the LPA reasons to justify it and hey presto you get your consent. It's not that simple, but this is how they generally come about.
A typical wording might be "the occupation of the dwelling shall be limited to a person solely or mainly employed or last employed in the locality in agriculture as defined in section 290(i) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 (as updated), or in forestry, or a widow or widower of such a person (including and dependents of such a person, residing with them)." However, we have seen variations on this theme and some conditions have been far more restrictive than this. Not only farms are affected by planning conditions, such as Agricultural Restrictions (Agricultural Ties) and just about any property, that has land with it, or any property that was formerly part of a larger property might be affected. If the dwelling was built after 1949, when the planning rules came in, you need to check things out.
Section 106 agreement
This little gem comes from the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
Section 106 of the Act allows a local planning authority (LPA) to enter into agreements, which are legally binding, with a person or persons who want to develop land. Agreements can cover almost any relevant issue with often, if not always, an emphasis on placing restrictions on developers. The objective is usually to minimize the impact of a development on the local area and community and/or to the carrying out of obligations, which will provide community benefits. In other words, "We'll scratch your back if you'll scratch mine", sort of thing though you will be apt to find that you'll be scratching with a dandy brush and the LPA with a toothbrush.
Possible examples of matters that might be included are:
 Transferring an area of land (e.g. woodland) to the LPA with a suitable fee for maintenance.
Restrictions on the development of an area of land, or permission only for certain operations to be carried out on it in the future - this is where the LPA may impose the Agricultural Restriction.
Creation of something for the benefit of the community such as a nature reserve or schemes for the planting of trees.
These are only limited examples of what might be included in one of these agreements but, once again, as the emphasis may be on restriction of use, such agreements may limit the market to which a property may be sold and may have an impact on valuation.
Basically, if the LPA is looking for a section 106 or to impose an occupancy restriction it will be because the type of development you are looking to carry out would not normally be allowed. This is typical in rural areas.
Practical Considerations
These are removal of an Agricultural Restriction, Borrowing (a mortgage for a property with an Agricultural tie), and buying a property with an Agricultural Restriction.
Removal - If you own a property with a restriction, you may have considered having the condition removed, which is not an easy process and requires expert advice from a planning consultant. The two routes will usually be by making a planning application for variation of the earlier consent or by an application for a Certificate of Lawfulness. The latter is used where there has been a sustained breach of a planning condition for a period exceeding ten years and where the LPA has not served an Enforcement Notice. A breach of the condition might be where people who are not in agriculture, as defined by the Planning Acts, have occupied the property for more than ten years. However, this can be a minefield so do not make any sort of application without expert advice because if you do and you get it wrong you may be faced with an Enforcement Notice to put right the breach. Where the LPA becomes aware of a breach in planning, it may serve an Enforcement Notice seeking compliance with the conditions; if you get one of these you need to consult an expert. Whether you seek to remove the Agricultural Restriction (Agricultural Tie) or vary the earlier permission, you need expert guidance.
We have the name of a Consultant and are pleased to let you have the details.
Borrowing - the number of lenders around, where properties have restrictions, are less than for situations where there are no planning restrictions or conditions. However, they do exist and the good news is that we know who they are.
Buying - in terms of getting a mortgage, again the number of lenders is limited but they are out there and as said, we know who they are. However, when buying there are other considerations to take into account. If you want to see what can happen when there isn't an experienced intermediary behind you, see our case study No6 where so called commercial mortgage brokers missed the tell tale signs that a property might be the subject of a restriction and thus made no enquiries. The money involved with missing this sort of thing is not peanuts, so ask for our help and we shall provide it.
If you intend to live in a property for the duration, buying a property with an Agricultural Restriction (Agricultural Tie) is not a bad thing because you would generally pay less for it than you might, for the same property, where there is no restriction. Bear in mind though, that you will need to comply with the restriction, which generally means that you will have to be engaged in Agriculture or similar. You may get away with running a secondary business by running a few sheep or poultry but the interpretation of the condition is all important. If you get it wrong and the LPA get wind that you occupy the property, in breach of a planning condition, you may be served with an Enforcement Notice to comply and this could cause something of a headache. So, if you're buying a property: -
If the property is in the country or has land with it, don't rely on what the selling agents or the seller tell you. If the property was built after 1949 get in touch with the LPA, ask for a planning history, and get copies of the relevant decision notices. Even lawyers can fail to pick this sort of thing up and even if they do, they will come across it via their local search, which may be carried out after you've already spent money on valuations, and searches. A little research yourself is a low cost option. Remember that even what appears to be a normal modern house can be subject to a restriction. We recently came across what appeared to be a modern house, in the country, with just a good garden, which ordinarily would not be expected to have a planning restriction. When we made enquiries we found out it had one - it had been part of a farm and had been sold off. Incidentally, the current owners were aware of this and had taken a punt on going the time needed to apply for a Certificate of Lawfulness, which they had been told was only four years. We were able to stop the owners from applying because, had they done so, they would have notified the LPA they were in breach of the planning obligation - the actual period is ten years. Talk about opening up a hornets' nest.
If your enquiries turn up a planning restriction of any kind and the seller hasn't told you about it, your first inclination might be to tell them to go forth and procreate. At the very least, renegotiate the price under the basic concept that the restriction will have an impact on the valuation and if the seller won't drop it, go for a long walk. In the case study, I referred to earlier, the old chap who was selling the property to our customer would not drop the price and so Mr and Mrs W walked away and later found a far better property, though an Enforcement Notice had been served in respect of that property and had to be sorted out as well. Everything happens for a reason - you'll find something else, just like Mr and Mrs W who are cock a hoop.
If you already know there is a restriction, or come across one, you need to interpret it carefully to ensure that when you occupy the property you can comply with it. You can take a risk, occupy, and hope to go ten years without someone dropping you in it with the LPA and then apply for your Certificate of Lawfulness, which effectively removes the restriction. I have seen this happen successfully, but I've also seen the reverse, which isn't pretty. Why have the sword of Damocles hanging over you when you want to live somewhere for the sake of the joy of living in the country? One of our good customers, a certain Mr L from Stafford has a totally different policy; he simply does what he wants and ignores the planners completely until they catch up with him. Around five years ago, he sold some of his buildings to a developer and his solicitor thought it a good idea to throw in the access road, so our man simply constructed a new one, without planning consent of course, right next to it! After World War III, with the planners, he did get his consent but not without a load of hassle. In a way this is a bit of a laugh, but it is not something we would recommend. Keeping on the right side of the planners is generally the right way to approach any dealings with them.
We can always point you in the right direction with planning issues, so feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions or issues surrounding an Agricultural Restriction (Agricultural Tie)
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