Derelict houses on farmland can be at risk of being considered as ‘abandoned’ which can lead to the legal loss of use as a residential dwelling and therefore rendered with having minimal, if any value. With a lack of housing and stringent planning constraints, as well as thousands of derelict properties across the UK, farmers and landowners need to be aware of properties being considered as abandoned if they intend to eventually reuse them. Owners may have long-held objectives to return these properties to beneficial use but may not have done so for a long period for various reasons – ownership complications, available finance, or simply there being other farm or estate priorities.

Abandonment is not a term defined in planning statute or regulations but a concept derived by the courts. It describes a situation where a property has been disused to the extent that it has lost its existing use rights and has zero status in planning terms. It follows that such a property cannot even be repaired or refurbished without the owner first obtaining planning permission. 

Practice has demonstrated that there are three main factors in determining whether a property has been abandoned or not. These are the physical condition of the property, the length of non-occupation and the question of intervening uses.  If a property is totally derelict, lacking utility provisions and requires total rebuilding then it is likely that it may well be considered abandoned and have lost any residential use rights. This would mean that for a farmer or landowner to bring this property back into residential use they would need to obtain planning permission for a new home. This is clearly a subjective test. The period of non-occupation is also an indicator although there are no firm rules as to what is an acceptable period of non-use and there are cases where periods of several decades have not prevented confirmation of use rights. If a former residential property has been used to house livestock for a period of time, for example, then it also likely that the residential use rights will be considered to have been lost.

It does seem odd that possible abandonment can result in a situation where even repairs to a dwelling may require permission. The appropriate method of clarifying this, i.e. confirming that a property has not been abandoned, is to obtain a Certificate of Lawful Existing Use on application to the local authority. In the case of a dwelling such an application would be to confirm a lawful Class C3 (residential) use. An approved Certificate for a lawful C3 use which confirms residential use rights can then be used for a number of purposes. Firstly, a Certificate will allow the straightforward sale of the property to a prospective occupier. Secondly, a Certificate then enables an owner to apply for planning permission for a replacement dwelling on the site, and thirdly, a Certificate may be important for financial reasons i.e. increasing a valuation, loan security or other transactional purposes. Above all, a Certificate provides reassurance to the owner that they do indeed  still have a property asset and one which may well be worthy of investment and improvement. 

The process of seeking a Certificate of Lawful Existing Use is a relatively simply one requiring appropriate plans, completion of forms, and the compilation of a case setting out the property history with details of occupation, use and so forth. A fee is payable to the local authority. Therefore, for a modest outlay, there are clear financial advantages in securing a Certificate where doubts exists. Cheffins Planning & Development team deals with abandonment cases on a regular basis and are more than happy to offer impartial advice on these matters.