Want a home with character?

Self-builders don’t just get hot under the collar for period townhouses and cute country cottages – many look outside the domestic sphere altogether. Agricultural, religious and industrial buildings can all be converted to residential use, creating atmospheric and unusual homes. Barns have always been top of the hit list, but churches are also popular. British artist Rachel Whiteread even lives in a converted synagogue. Working buildings no longer in use throw up many possibilities – watermills, windmills, warehouses, watertowers and even buildings that don’t begin with ‘w’, like lighthouses and oasthouses. Barns themselves come in a number of shapes, types and ages.

Finding a property

But how to find yourself a property to convert? As well as contacting estate agents, try websites likes barnsetc.co.uk, plotfi nder.net and buildstore.co.uk for opportunities. Have a look at property.org.uk/unique for dates of upcoming auctions and listings of everything from Ministry of Defence cast-off's to public toilets. Utility companies may sell off their unwanted buildings, and both the Church of England and Scotland publish listings of their redundant buildings at cofe.anglican.org and churchofscotland.org.uk. The ‘buildings at risk’ registers (english-heritage.org.uk and buildingsatrisk.org.uk) also contain reams of often unusual buildings that need saving.

How to convert

Unfortunately, there are no golden rules when it comes to converting a building. ‘You have to treat every building in a different way,’ says Elspeth Beard, the project architect on the Traill’s barn and someone with plenty of conversions under her belt, including churches, a watertower and even a lighthouse. ‘It’s about understanding the building and the spaces, and working with them rather than fighting them.’

Keep in mind…

Understand your building Find out about its history and how it was used. The most successful conversions are the most sensitive ones, allowing the building’s original purpose to remain visible despite the change of use.

Accept the need to compromise With an old building, you must balance your desires with what’s best for the project itself. Underfloor heating might fl oat your boat, but it could involve harmful alterations to the building’s fabric.

Seek help! Old buildings are complex beasts and expert knowledge is invaluable. Look for an architect, like Elspeth, who has worked on conversions before. ‘They’ll know the pitfalls and problems you’re likely to face,’ she says.

Expertise extends to works on site too Not every tradesman will have the skills necessary to work with an older building’s fabric. Skilled craftsmen can sometimes be difficult to find – personal recommendations tend to be the most reliable means, though you can try the directory at buildingconservation.com too.

Expect the unexpected ‘When you take an old building apart you can fi nd all sorts of horrors,’ warns Elspeth. ‘They’re real cans of worms and never as you think they’ll be. You need to be fl exible in your ideas to cope with this.’ Increase your contingency – the unpredictability of these projects means that going over budget is almost certain.

Red tape

Choosing a conversion isn’t the easiest route, as there’s plenty of red tape surrounding them. You’ll often need listed building consent as well as planning permission. As usual it’s always case and council specific, but achieving consent can be a long and challenging slog. Often, a private residential use is at the bottom of the planning department’s wish list. They’d rather working buildings were kept working, and that churches were given another community use as a playgroup or art gallery. It’s likely you may need to prove these uses aren’t practical, perhaps by having the building advertised in an estate agents as a non-residential property for a period of time. The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (spab.co.uk) offers excellent advice on the issues to consider. Planning permission and historic building consents will be more easily approved if you demonstrate knowledge of the building, what makes it special, and how you’ll retain that through the conversion. It’s always worth talking to the relevant officials as early on as possible – before purchase – to make sure you’re not taking on a building you’ll never be allowed to live in.

Pictures:

Top - Chris Tubbs
Middle - Graham Atkins-Hughes
Bottom - Mel Yates

Words: Joanna Booth