Right to Remain (Planning Law)

[PercyDouglas]

I have been told that if we site a static caravan on land we own and no one objects, after 3 years we have a right to keep the caravan for residential use. We have owned the land for ten years.

[Mrs_Pegasus]

I think you will find the Council will object.

I seem to recall this being a problem with a builder i know who sited a static close to a plot of land he was building on, no one objected by the Council did and he had to remove it after 3 years.

Planning law seems to change all the time so this may well no longer be the case.

[Mr Veritas]

The 3 year law you quote may be so.
However,as you will need PP to keep/site the caravan on this piece of land (which the Council will NOT grant) there is no point in going further.
We have two instances of this in our country lane.
1.A very nice guy has two fields,and uses/used one to store his very small touring caravan.The Council told him to remove it,which (to save legal costs) he did.
2.Another guy is attempting to restore a "derelict" house,and had placed a mobile home on the land as a place to stay over whils rebuilding the property.
Again,the Council has served an enforcement order on him.He is appealing this order(I don't think he will win) and of course it is costing him a fair amount in legal fees.
The problem lays in the fact that if a caravan/temporary building is situated for the legal number of years without objection (in itself unlikely) then the land use changes to residentil.This means (in effect) that after that period the council must give PP for residnetial housing on the site,as it ceases to be grrenfield site.
The length of time you have owned the land doesn't affect this,it's how long the caravan/temporary building has been there that matters.
Councils ( all over the country) are very hot on this as they see it (quite rightly) as a backdoor way of flouting housing PP.

[buildersmate]

The 'three year law' is not so - it is a 10 year period.
After a period of 10 years, a requirement to ask for planning consent for a change of use from one category to another is not required, if that use can be demonstrated by the owner. In your case you have agriculture use and you are seeking to get domestic.
You would have to live continuously in the caravan - not just park it on the site (which would merely constitute storage use of equipment).
In the unlikely event that you get away with this for 10 years without the local planning authority noticing and prohibiting you doing it, you could apply for a Certificate of Lawful Use. This effectively gives you a permanent right to leave it there.

Note that if you have an existing domestic dwelling on a site and you extend it without planning consent, the period of time that passes before the planning authorities cannot demand removal is 4 years, not 10.

This is the law in England and Wales - don't know if Scotland and NI is different.

[PercyDouglas]

Thanks to Pegasus,Veritas & Buildersmate - I'd like to add that Temporary Planning Permission was granted August 1998 for Wooden Stables, permission expired December 2007 although no horses have been there for four years and the land remains idle. I spoke two years ago to the planning office but they will not say what I can do with the land, or suggest ways to achieve even temporary residential use, it seems that I have to suggest ideas and each time pay the fees. I feel they're waiting to see how long it takes to find the loophole ! Due to Credit Crunch this is important to me.

[buildersmate]

I'm afraid it isn't their job to help you find a way of getting planning permission. They will often provide an informal opinion about the conformance or otherwise of an individual's scheme. However what you are hoping to do is clearly outside the current policies. The general principle here is that a new residential dwelling outside existing settlement areas is not within policy. That isn't to say it is impossible - there are many how have done it - some by more foul means than fair. But if you've got issues - such as AONB, National Parks or Conservation Area status involved, I don't fancy your chances.
You could consider employing a planning consultant - but that will cost you readies. Perhaps find one who will work on a success fee only.