Agricultural Occupancy Restriction....any advice or experience?

[YellowFlyingPineapple]

We are very interested in a property that has an AOR, has anybody got any advice, opinions or experience of it please, positive and negative. Thank you.

What is the specific restriction?

These usually state that you need to be working mainly in agriculture in the locality. They are not easy to lift and you could get fined if you dont comply I believe. You would need to speak to the council, the planning dept I would think.

I looked into one of these. It could not be sold to anyone unless they were working in that exact parish in the right occupation - just being in agriculture didn't cut it. So we couldn't buy it, and even if we could, it would need exactly the right next person to buy it. As a result it was priced at 2/3 that of the property down the road, even though it was a better house for many reasons. (I note that it is now sold) So that is the plus - these places are cheap.

Very hard to get AORs lifted in some councils. Investigate by all means but if you are eligible, think hard and also see what your mortgage people say if that applies.

Basically you need to comply. We looked into one once and had our solicitor look at the detail. They're pretty much impossible to avoid/remove, hence the houses costing a lot less. Bear in mind that even if you could get it lifted the price would shoot up as a result!

Thanks all, so keeping coops full of chickens, selling eggs at the gate and selling some slug munched vegetables is not going to work then!?

I do know of somebody in that area who got an AOR lifted but on what grounds I have no idea and it was a fairly long process by all accounts according to the village sages.

Ha. Maybe worth a go? Probably varies how strictly enforced. I think normally you need to show you've a job, but I wonder how far you need to go if you say you're self-employed selling an egg a week?

I thought of that one. Sadly no chicken coops, and a sheep in the back garden doesn't cut it either. :-)

It is almost impossible to get an Ag. Restriction lifted, I'm afraid. It is the reason why in many areas of the country you see derelict farm cottages. They were originally for tenants, and once farms became mechanised and no longer needed so many workers it was just impossible to let or sell them. My ex DH is a farmer, and we had two farm cottages that were eventually demolished. They could only have a tenant who was employed as a farm labourer on a farm in that parish.

Might be worth a shot contacting The National Farmers Union and/or solicitors who handle these type of properties to see what they say ????????

The restrictions apply to proerties that were only granted planning permission in the first place on the basis that they were essential to agriculture, which is why the restriction is so hard to remove - councils were always very wary that farmers might be trying to get planning permison for a house they would then sell on unless the regime was tightly policed. Most councils have a policy about what you need to do to get them listed, that often involves offering for sale to those working in agriculture for a lengthy period of time. You may or may not be able to get it lifted eventually , but you would not be able to get a mortgage to buy in the meantime.