Want to build a house in the country? Any aspiring rural dweller knows it’s almost impossible to obtain planning permission in most areas — unless your property is deemed to be for agricultural use.

This doesn’t mean breaking your back in the fields all day. A herd of just half a dozen alpacas could do the trick nicely. All you’d have to do is check up on them twice a day, keep them safe from predators (including the family pooch, which apparently has a taste for alpaca meat) and clip their toenails every couple of months.

Absurd? Not necessarily. According to the British Alpaca Society (BAS), there are now 21,000 of the animals in the country — not bad going, as the first ones were brought over from their native South America only in the mid-1990s — but the suspicion is that their attraction for breeders lies as much in the way they can be used to circumvent planning rules as in the llama-like creatures’ innate charms.

With most farm animals, you need to keep hundreds (or thousands, in the case of chickens) before you can persuade the planners that you need to build a home to live alongside them on your land. But because alpacas are expensive — breeding females sell for £5,000 and stud males for as much as £30,000 — a handful may suffice.

“We are aware that people are trying to get planning consent by purchasing alpacas, but it is not something we encourage,” says Libby Henson, of the BAS, which has seen its membership more than treble in the past five years, from 300 to 1,100. She admits, however, that most members are not full-time breeders and typically have a herd of 20-30 animals.

Under the rules, all a would-be alpaca farmer needs to apply for permission to build a house is a handful of animals and a business plan. If the planners deem this viable, they will grant temporary planning permission — valid for three years, though a mobile or wooden home is usually specified. At the end of that period, they review the business to establish whether it is a genuine commercial concern — which normally means a herd of 35 or so alpacas.

In theory, anyone failing the test can be ordered to remove the property. How often — if at all — this happens is not clear. “It is fairly unlikely they’d check properly, and it would be pretty difficult for them to prove your business wasn’t going well,” says David Hill, a land agent for Savills estate agency. “Usually the way people get found out is if a jealous neighbour complains — the councils aren’t overly proactive. After 10 years, you would get full ownership rights anyway, whatever the conditions of the planning permission.”

Mym Holcombe and her husband, Adrian, expect their alpaca farm outside the Wiltshire village of Latton to stand the toughest council scrutiny. Two years ago, they bought a few animals to keep at their then property in the Cotswolds.

It began as a hobby, but they had sold their two other businesses and decided to breed alpacas full time. Their one acre was not enough, so they moved to Wiltshire — where they bought 8½ of them.

Five months on, the Holcombes have 24 alpacas and are beginning to make money by selling the fibres at country fairs or the animals themselves to other breeders. They have also been granted temporary planning permission to build a log cabin — which, if their business is still going in three years’ time, they could replace with a permanent house. “But we wouldn’t want to,” insists Mym, 46. “We’ve spent a fortune on the log cabin and, even though it’s cramped, we love it.”

Not all their neighbours in Latton are convinced. Some are unhappy about the alpaca farm and another planning application — not yet approved — for a chicken farm on the same road, also involving a new building. “The impression we get is that the council would rather give permission to such applications than reject them and have them go to appeal,” says Edwin Fry, a farmer who is leading the local opposition. North Wiltshire district council has had six alpaca-related applications in the past three years.

Holcombe is aware of the cynicism of some of her neighbours, but considers it misplaced. “A lot of people will go down the alpaca route simply to get planning permission,” she admits. “But I don’t see how you can get them if you’re not an animal-lover in the first place.”

If the Holcombes are looking for a role model, they could consider the example of Garry and Andrea Naish.New to farming, the couple from Bristol put six alpacas on their six acres in Wickwar, South Gloucestershire, in 2005 and were granted temporary planning permission for a mobile three-bedroom home. Neighbours accused them of manipulating the system and turning their land into a “shanty town”.

After three years, they had built up a herd of 30 animals and were making a profit — so they were given permission to build a permanent home, which they now intend to do. “It was not my intention to go into alpaca farming full time at first,” Garry says. “It was just a nice project for my wife. But it’s been a labour of love for both of us.”

Many of the locals remain cool, however. “We are personae non gratae,” says Andrea. “We can’t get mains electricity because our neighbours won’t let the power companies pass through their land to get to us.”

Alpaca facts:

- Alpacas weigh up to 50kg and live for about 20 years

- They originate in the Andes in Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Bolivia. The Incas bred alpacas until the Spanish invaded Peru in 1532 and brought over sheep

- In Britain, alpacas graze and eat hay in winter. They require supplements to replace the minerals they would have got from the mountainside

- There are 22 alpaca fleece colours. Their fibre is soft, like cashmere, but stronger

- Babies (cria) are usually born in the late morning and stand within a few hours

- Alpacas make a humming sound, and males orgle — sing — when mating. Not all spit, but they will do when agitated. Some will do so when looked at

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