[Closed] Planning Advice - Grade 2 listed barn

Sadly there only one way to find out for certain.

however, you can apply for planning permission for a property that isn’t yours...

Have you looked at the planning application for the original conversion? It may be available online. That might give some indication of whether doors would be acceptable.

If it’s a reasonably recent conversion - say last 15 years or so it should be possible to find the planning permission and lbc and read the officer’s report. If maintaining the entrances open was a specific objective in the consent it would have been referred to. It’s not definitive but give you a feel for how easy it might be to do what you want.

You can use the search tool in the planning pages of your council website.

edit: godammit, beaten to the punch!

hmm, I would say just stick them on and see what happens but with listed the penalties can be more serious.

Just slide some shipping containers in there and paint the doors to look like wood, they are a temporary item being stored in your carport then 😉

On a serious note I find that if you are genuine in trying to keep the appearance inline with what would be expected then they will be a lot more likely to pass. I dont think anyone would think you were being unreasonable for wanting to make a building more secure, especially if you pull out the sustainability plea and say it's so you can keep your bikes in there for commuting 😉

Currently planning our barn conversion and a rebuilt barn. As part of the conversion I am putting a guest bedroom where the vehicle access is from the road so will be putting some fake reclaimed oak doors (with gaps) over a modern triple glazed window and on the rebuilt barn/workshop i am planning a set of large rustic wooden doors with a roller shutter behind. Maybe you could take a similar approach to keep the period look but have some modern security?

Thanks for the advice all. Found original application, no mention of doors not allowed but no request either.

Will keep nagging planning and pay relevant fees, only way to find out.

Have considered the shed in a shed scenario but don't really want to buy a house with that scenario

Read the listed building register in the council. It might reference the importance or not if the openings.  Also is the barn in a local vernacular? Did/do all the barns in the area have open bits at the bottom?  Is it a rare or common design or particularly well preserved example etc. Etc.

But the fact they are ‘car ports’ now strongly suggests to me they were some kind of open storage historically and were required to be kept open. It might well have not have got as far as asking council as a sensitive conservation architect rightly chose not to ask in the first place. I mean who would voluntarily design a property with any carport never mind 3?  Also sealing them up might bugger up airflow, damp etc.

Any modifications to listed buildings that are permitted are preferably things that can be reversed, ie, no change to the historic structure. So if you could add doors in frames that fit into existing notches, etc, that would be more likely to be approved than drilling holes or altering the masonry. If, as eddie11 says above, they are open for ventilation, making new openings for vent would be less acceptable than finding a existing opening.

Does your local council have a "Heritage Officer", or similar? An informal chat may prove useful.

Your proposed modifications would need to be sympathetic to the original structure. So, for example, could your doors be set back a little way? Rather than flush with the exterior walls? That way, the outlines of the historic building are still quite obvious.

Esme (ex-member of Planning Committee)

We had a G2* nightmare property.

Its English Heritage that are the pita together with a local council historical buildings jobsworth.

Planning permission on listed buildings used to be free mainly because the default was no.

Walk away and build an eco house it will save you money in the long run.

Listed building consent applications still are free. The fee the op is referring to is a pre-app consultation fee which many councils now charge.