There are still masses of unconverted barns. But turning an agricultural building into a home is much more difficult than in the mid-1990s heyday of barn conversions.

Steven Smallman, head of planning at estate agency Carter Jonas, says: “Government policy has favoured commercial use, to help with the diversification of the rural economy. But often there is a tension between these uses and sustainability.” Barns may be a long way from services, such as water and electricity, and some distance from towns or roads, so raising the number of car journeys.

However, according to Daniel Jones, head of the rural enterprise team at estate agency Bidwells: “The new guidelines suggest that planning consent shouldn’t be refused on grounds of sustainability alone. And there is a sustainability argument in favour of reusing something that’s already built. It’s certainly cheaper and now may be a good time to do it.”

David Brock, of English Heritage, sets out his preferences for conversions: “Keep it simple on the outside, and try to leave the interior space undivided, or, if there is division, to keep the cellular bits at one end.”

One solution to gloomy interiors was used for a residential conversion near Canterbury in Kent. Owners Nigel and Liana Fox turned to an architect, Thomas Croft, to transform a large listed medieval barn in the grounds of their house, Manor Farm. The timber cladding on the side had almost certainly been replaced in the past. “Why not replace it again, but this time with glass?” was the question put to the planners, who gave consent in 2004. With a glass wall running along one side, the need to pepper the house with other window openings was removed. Manor Barn is on the market with Strutt & Parker, for £3 million.

A field barn renovation on the Bolton Abbey Estate was a test project funded by the Yorkshire Dales sustainable development fund. The architect, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, reused the building without compromising its structure by slipping a timber-panelled “eco” housing pod into the existing barn, which was repaired and made sound. Electricity and water were trundled up to the barn in a converted agricultural trailer. Holidaymakers can now enjoy a stay in a wooden chalet with modern conveniences, while passing ramblers will assume they are strolling past an old barn with a trailer parked outside.

carterjonas.co.uk, bidwells.co.uk, struttandparker.com

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