Business Clinic: What permissions are needed for dog kennels?

Whether it’s a legal, tax, insurance, management or land issue, Farmers Weekly’s experts can help.

Hannah Burton, a partner in the estate management arm of Carter Jonas, advises on making sure all is in place for a dog kennel diversification venture.

See also: Business Clinic – what will it cost to sell our farm and buy another?

Q: I am looking to open a boarding kennel for dogs using what is currently an agricultural field.

Portable cabins will be used for the kennels and office so all buildings will be temporary and surface laid.

What permissions will I need in order to establish this business?

A: There are a few aspects to consider here, starting with planning permission.

You mention that the buildings are temporary but actually “temporary” has a different meaning in the context of planning permission. If structures are to remain in situ for 28 days or more, then they are considered permanent.

Permanent structures larger than 100sq m will require full planning permission, unless they are for agricultural use.

Although the field is currently in agricultural use, your new business venture will not qualify as agricultural so, sadly, this exemption will not apply.

I think it would be sensible in this case to go through the pre-application process, which will give you a steer as to whether the Local Planning Authority (LPA) will be likely to approve the proposals, and give you an opportunity to adapt them if it seems unlikely.

Consider a pre-application

A pre-application generally consists of providing the LPA with a brief outline of your plans with draft plans to assist.

Through the process, the authority would provide its initial thoughts to the plans, suggest amendments where required and give a general overview before you then commit to instructing on third-party reports.

It is also private and confidential and is not available on the council’s online records, whereas a full planning application is published on a council’s “Public Access” system.

When it comes to doing the full planning application, additional supporting documentation will be needed.

This may mean working with other professional advisers to seek or produce full site and elevation plans, highways and transport advice, and heritage, landscape and flooding reports.

What is required will depend on the specifics of the site and the application.

This documentation is not needed for a pre-application, but generally the more information you provide, the better response you are likely to get from the council.

A pre-application form, location plan and fee are a requirement nationally, but different LPAs may have different requirements so it is always worth checking.

Other permissions and issues

Once you have successfully gained planning permission, there will be additional hoops to jump through for the operation.

You will need to ensure that you have the necessary insurances. At a minimum these will be property, public liability and, possibly professional and/or employer’s liability cover.

You will also need to apply to the local council for a licence to offer boarding for cats and dogs.

This will impose certain conditions and restrictions, and you’ll need to ensure that you’re compliant with these at all times.

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