They can be a lot more involved and detailed in the respect of the amount of planning and research that is required before work is started, but generally the rules which apply to renovations apply to conversions.

On that basis, many of the sections of this guide which cover aspects of “renovation” will also be worth reading if you are considering taking on a “conversion” project.

The main areas where conversions differ from renovations are in the realms of “Planning Permissions”, and generally have regards to changing the use of the building from “what it was” originally designed for, to one which is now suitable for “residential habitation”.

Anyone who is considering embarking on one of these projects, unless they are specialists in this field, would be strongly recommended to consider utilizing the services of a professional Designer / Planning Consultant / Conversion Specialist, or at least someone who has a reasonable knowledge of the subject. (You should be able to find someone suitable in the “Trade Directory” section of this site. – Use the “Quick reference Tick boxes” which accompany each ad and indicate whether the advertiser is happy to work on conversion projects, - to speed up your   “search process”.

The Planning process for one of these projects, if not done correctly, can drag on for a long time whilst minor details are considered and passed or rejected by the Local Authority, with respect to either Planning or Building Regulation issues, so having a professional who: a) knows how the system works, and b) knows the local area, can be of great help in getting you to the point where you can actually start work.

One of the most common types of conversion project in the UK is the “Barn Conversion”, - but there can also occasionally be conversions from “office” or “industrial” uses (amongst others) to “residential”.

As the “Barn Conversion” is the probably most popular, I will use it as a basis for what we discuss in this section. - The process of planning a change from any other type of use to residential will follow similar lines.

First of all, you need to know before you start any design or planning work, that the building you are hoping to convert has the necessary Planning Permission in place. – If it hasn’t got it, you should not commit yourself to buying it until it does have it!

In most cases you will see Barn Conversion properties for sale with at least “Outline Planning Permission”; it is fairly rare for someone to try to sell one without having first gone to through the Planning Process of at least finding out if it will be “sellable” (without Planning Permission, the building is nothing more than a pretty worthless shed!).

So the properties that you go and look at should have either “Outline Planning Permission”, “Full Planning Permission” or “Reserved Matters”. – If it has none of these, you may be able to reach an agreement to buy it once it has achieved one of them, for an agreed price (which if you are doing all the application work, should be significantly lower than the potential market value once it does get planning approval).

This could suit you if you want to be able to start with as “blank a canvas” as possible. - You know you can convert the building into a home, but you are then able to put your own “stamp” on the whole project in respect of the final design, layout and appearance. You can plan the internal layout to suit your needs and can also have some say into the final external appearance.

The downside is that you will probably have to survey the property (at a cost of a couple of hundred pounds upwards), design the layout, get all the drawings prepared, and submit everything for Planning and Building regulation approval before you can think about starting work.

The “Planning process” itself can take about 3 months, so from the time you first find the property, - until you actually achieve the Full Planning Permission, or Reserved Matters permission, can be anywhere from 4 months up to 9 or 10 months.

These two types of Planning Permission are fairly similar to each other. They both deal with:

1) The internal layout

2) How you treat the external aspects of the building.

3) Your proposals for services and drainage installation.

4) The materials you propose to use.

5) Your intentions for accessing the new property / Parking provisions / and other “Standard Planning” permission issues which apply to ALL proposed residential developments.

Often, with a conversion project, you will be creating a new living space out of what has previously just been a “large shed”. – You are often restricted as to how you can use it.

The Planning Authority may want to keep a lot of the “authenticity” of the building, and so may not want you be adding to the height of the building / adding dormers / creating lots of new openings / rendering over existing stonework etc.

Restrictions which are imposed on individual projects will affect how the internal space is used.

If the existing structure only has a small number of openings that will be usable as windows, and you are not allowed to add new ones, then you will have to make sure your design takes account of the need for “light” to certain rooms.

Even if you are allowed to add new openings, the cost of doing so may be prohibitive. – Some barn walls are 3ft thick, so creating just one window or door opening is quite a major and expensive task.

Talk to the Planning Office before you start the designs to find out what sorts of restrictions (if any) they may be likely to impose on the development, then try to design accordingly if you want the process to go smoothly.

As I just mentioned, there will often be restrictions on the changes you are allowed to make to the external appearance of the building.

Adding items such as porches, conservatories, annexes, extensions and car ports can sometimes be deemed as unacceptable to the Local Authority.

Changes in the roof height, and /or pitch, - or the addition or “roof lights” or dormers may or may not be acceptable. The roof covering may be required to be the same as the original (which isn’t much “fun” if the original roof was corrugated tin!).

You may be required to keep to the original external wall finish, which could mean extensive (and expensive) repairs and upgrading being necessary.

“Obvious” changes to the external appearance may be more acceptable on elevations which are away from the main “public view” so they don’t alter the “overall aspect” of the property from locations where it can be easily seen.

Again, preliminary discussions with the Planning Office before you start any design work will give you some guidance as to what you can and can’t do with regards to how the external appearance can be altered. – If you choose to “test” the guidelines you are give, your application could be turned down and you could then either have to go through an appeals process(which can take a long time), or change your designs and re submit, which can also take a few months.

Often these developments can be in remote locations, where no services or drainage facilities are available, and where such things as “water courses” may be close by.

Whether there are existing services and drains, or not, you will need to give detailed plans on how you are going to provide everything necessary to create a “habitable dwelling”, not only for the Planning Office, but also, more importantly, for Building Regulations approval BEFORE you can start work.

A large tank or multiple cylinders to provide gas or oil for the new dwelling, may or may not be aesthetically acceptable. An electrical generator may not be acceptable because of the noise it would generate.

A septic tank may be acceptable depending on its location in respect to other properties and to local “water courses” (from which animal could be drinking, or which could run into reservoirs which provide drinking water to residential areas)  

You will also need to consider things like:

As already mentioned, the existing construction of the building will often have a large say in what materials you will be allowed to use for the “new” aspects of the project.

“Sympathetic” design is usually considered important in conversion properties, (i.e. building the “new” to match the “old”). This becomes even more important if the building being converted is one of numerous similar buildings in the immediate area and the Local Authorities feel that it should maintain its “authentic qualities”..

This requirement, where enforced, can bring with it a lot of expense. It can be a time consuming process trying to find and match materials, and then there is the problem of finding people who are still capable of doing the work.

The main areas which will come into the consideration of the planners will be:

If the walls are built of some type of natural local stone, the chances are that “new brickwork” will be a “No No” (Not always, but usually). - So, you may have allow for copying “what is already there” if you want to add anything new. Where the walls are already built in brickwork, then finding a matching brick for repairs and new work could also prove to be difficult.

You may need to make allowance in your budget for a) “finding” matching materials, and b) if necessary, replacing some of the existing materials - “like for like”.

The same often goes for the roof as goes for the walls:  

Not only may you be required to use the same roofing materials as were ORIGINALLY used, but you may also be required to use the same materials AND construction techniques as were originally used, -for THE WHOLE of the construction of the roof, including both the structure and the covering.

The structure could be found to be made of solid oak, and the covering could be of a type or style of oak or a style of slate which may now be difficult to find. The cost of replacing an old oak roof with a similar new structure, may, for some, make the project impractical from a financial point of view.

You will also have to work out ways to bring the structure up to the new Building Regulations standards for heat loss, at the same time as you try to satisfy the planning requirements.

You will be lucky if you are allowed to use pvcu windows and external doors (although it is not unheard of).

You MAY be required to have all your windows and doors made specially to match the style of either the buildings around the property, or to achieve an appearance which would have been common at the time of your buildings construction.

As with the roof, this can add literally thousands of pounds to the cost of the project.

You may find you are restricted on the internal construction and finishing materials, again to create a finished product which is sympathetic to the original building.

You will usually need to provide details of how you will provide adequate access and parking for the converted property, and you will need to show that your conversion complies with all of the standard Planning Conditions which apply to all “new” development, whilst staying “in keeping” with the “original style” of the building. You may also be required to submit accurate details of your intentions for landscaping to show that the “overall” development will remain just as in keeping with how it would have originally appeared.

If you buy your barn with “Full” or “Reserved Matters” approval, it may cut down your options with regards to the flexibility of what you can build and how “personal” the design can be, BUT, it can save you many months of time and many thousands of pounds on the total cost of the project.

It can also allow you to make an “informed decision” at an early stage as to whether or not you think that any conditions and restrictions that have been placed on the development make it something that you would not be interested in taking on. – If you only find these things out after a lengthy and expensive design and planning process you could lose a lot of time and money.

As I mentioned earlier, due to the specialist nature of this type of development (unless you have experience and knowledge of this area of construction), I would strongly recommend that you consider taking on either a suitable Main Contractor who specializes in conversion of older properties, or a Project Manager who has experience of working on this type of project.

You need bear in mind with a conversion that you may need to find “specialist” tradesmen and materials for many parts of the job. - In many cases, the nearest local builder may not be the best choice. - Whoever is “running the job” (whether it be a Main Contractor or Project Manager), has to be able to ask the right questions to the right people. He / she also needs to understand the “process” of working on this type of project, and be able to closely watch how the work progresses, - making sure that planning conditions and restrictions are being adhered to.

If you try to run the project yourselves, and you lack adequate knowledge of the subject, you could easily find yourself making mistakes which could prove to be costly, both in time and money.

If the job stops because of a mistake you have made, whilst you sort it out, you may find that your sub contractors go and find work elsewhere. – When you are ready to bring them back they may be committed to the other work for the next few weeks (this could then affect the “follow on” trades in a similar manner). - Knock on effects from problems encountered as work progresses are commonplace in building projects, but on conversion projects where the building process can often be more complicated than on a new build, these “knock on effects” can cause major problems both in respect of the time taken to complete the work and the final cost.

If you employ a Main Contractor or a Project Manager it will be their responsibility to make sure that you get the people you need, when you need them. So, a) They will be less likely to make mistakes, and b) If they do, you may have some “come back” on them.

Make sure you get suitable contracts drawn up for the works ( whether that means “one contract” for a main contractor, or various contracts for each sub contractor (read other relevant sections in this guide for more advice on contracts, and talk to your designer about what sort of thing you will need).

Also make sure you get the right insurances and Warranties in place before you start. - There are different policies for both which are specifically designed for conversion projects (again look at the relevant sections of the guide to help you, or talk to some of the “Site” and “Building” Insurance companies about things like “All risks” insurance, and also the specialist “Structural Warranty” companies. – You will find both in the Trade Directory).

On the whole, I would say that, although there are many similarities in renovation and conversion projects, - taking on a major conversion project is probably, in general far more difficult, time consuming, expensive and complicated than either Renovation or New Build.  

The nature of the “existing building” and often the conditions imposed by the Authorities also often limit the scope of what you can achieve from the project.

If you are new to the “Building Industry”, or more specifically, to “Residential building”, then a conversion may not be for you. – Unless you have the funds, the time and the patience to a) go through all the Planning “ups and downs” and b) are then are happy to hand the whole thing over to someone who knows what they are doing!

If you do have ago yourselves, whatever your circumstances just do as much research on the subject as you need to so that you become aware of the potential problems and pitfalls – before you start spending any money.