I am about to purchase some land (30 acres) with planning permission for 30 stables. I have a five year plan to build the stables and am being supported by my bank and the equity from selling my home, as well as funding some of the repayments to the loan from my own drainage company.
The first stage of the plan would require my wife and I having 21 horses on the land, 18 of which would be grass liveries.
Ideally we would would like to put a mobile home on the land as it would be far easier to stay in the home and my wife to run the business from there. The horses would mainly be fenced off by electirc fencing and due to stage 1 of our plan being vastly grass liveries, there would defintiely be a high number of young horses which are there simply to graze until they are ready to be brought in an broken. The electric fecning needs constant attention as young horses can be a real handful.
Could anyone give me any advice of putting a mobile home on the land without first gaining full planing permission? The field is quite large and it would be easy to place the mobile home away from the view of around 7 houses which back onto the field at one corner.
Any help or information would be greatly appreciated.
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David Ellis
Forum Member
Hi James,
Firstly, you will need planning permission for the mobile home as it’s a change of use. I would advise you to read annex A of planning policy statement 7: Sustainable Development in Rural Areas on the DCLG website. Go to :
http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1143824
Basically, if you want a mobile home on the land you will have to provide the LPA with evidence that there is a genuine need to live there. This cannot be just because you want to, it has to be for the need of the animals in terms of welfare, security etc.. Many liveries are run without the need to live on site.
You will also need to provide evidence that the business is run soundly and is likely to remain/be profitable (functional/financial tests) and then at best you would only get a temporary permission for say, 3 years. After that period the LPA would review you situation etc.
Annex A refers to agricultural dwellings, but it is accepted that the tests can be used for equine enterprises.
These kind of enterprises can be very difficult to get planning permission for mobile homes, so beware!
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Thanks for the help David,
I know its going to be quite a struggle to get a mobile home on the land; I have read some past case studies and have seen where a lot of people have fallen short, especially with regards to being a sustainible business.
Hopefully, with the my business plan and backing from the bank, the financial side shouldn’t be too much of a worry, its proving the need to stay there for other reasons, such as security. I am pretty fearful of our chances of getting temporary planning as we are not yet on the land and the horses won’t be there for another month or so, so proving there is a security risk without anything ever happened to our business (related to crime) may cause some problems.
Mr Grumpy
Forum Member
Saturday, March 24, 2007 9:12 AM
Yes James; don’t do it.
Get your application in first, make your case for the mobile and for any other change of use that might be required (from the description it sounds like a change of use of the land from agriculture to the keeping of horses may be involved, regardless of any home) before you undertake the development.
Doing things this way will get people like the planners and the locals and the parish council on your side. Putting the home on the site before anything else will just hack them all off and you will have a long and uphill struggle to get ’em all back on your side. (Sayeth the man who has just completed an appeal statement for his authority against an enforcement appeal in v similar circumstances).
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF NEGATIVE PLANNING HISTORY – Avoid it if you can
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Can you tell me if i need plannig permission to havea mobile home nextto my stable inthe curtilage or my grounds. My groom uses it when we have a horses in foal so he can check through the night etc It cant be seen by anyone unless from above and has been there 6 years . My neighbour has just reported it apparently ! (she is a very cranky)
WHat can i do to make sure its all ok under the law etc
Your guidance is appreciated
Thank you
Horse lover