What is Shepherds Hut Planning Permission?
Almost everyone setting up a new glamping business will require planning permission, and at Greendown Shepherd Huts we can certainly advise and point you in the right direction.
Our staff will work with you to provide good practical advice, so that your new glamping business complies with the regulations and meets the required standard.
Do I Need Planning Permission when Buying a Shepherds Hut?
If the hut is sited in the garden of your residential property, and you intend using it as an addition to the house as a personal outdoor living space, then it is exempt from planning permission.
In this scenario, the hut is seen as an addition to your residential house and the local council do not need to be informed of your intent of buying a Shepherds hut.
If you plan on renting this garden hut as a tiny house on wheels for financial gain, then the likelihood is you will require full planning permission.
For businesses, the most likely scenario is that you will need planning permission for your new shepherd’s hut. There are a couple of scenarios that would potentially exempt you from planning permission.
An example of exemption is when a hut is a ‘temporary’ structure, and you only plan on renting it for less than 28 days a year.
However, be aware the term ‘temporary’ is a very grey area. If you are looking to buy holiday cabins for sale, to rent for financial gain, 28 days in a single year is too short a period and therefore we would advise against this option.
In all circumstances we are happy to discuss the best practical options regarding planning and Shepherd huts.
Glamping Planning Permission Process
At Greendown Shepherd Huts we suggest a 3 stage process:
Step 1 – Initial concept design
Step 2 – Pre-planning application
Step 3 – Full planning application.
Each of the steps has a different benefit.
The main benefit of the initial concept design stage is that we work with you to set out your site exactly as per your requirements and create some beautiful outdoor living spaces for you to consider.
This will be done in AutoCAD and will include a background created with satellite imagery for precision layouts. This will ensure we can make it work and design the right hut that fits naturally into the space that you’ve allocated.
The main benefit of the pre-planning application is that we work with you and the local council, so hopefully they will understand the proposal and are on board with the project from the outset.
A pre-planning application is essentially you contacting the council and asking for advice based on your Shepherd hut plans (that we developed in the initial concept design).
Cooperating and communicating effectively at the beginning is an important first step. Councils tend to respond more favourably to people who discuss plans and seek advice at the outset. If you ask for pre-planning advice first, you are more likely to get the right response and Greendown Shepherd Huts are happy to advise throughout.
The benefit of a full Shepherd hut planning permission application is that once approved you will be allowed to proceed, build your site and start the process of buying a Shepherds hut.
You will also have peace of mind that your site design is safe and legal. At Greendown Shepherd Huts, we can help facilitate and advise throughout this process, assisting with drawings and applications to get your new glamping site off the ground.
Starting Your Glamping Business
At Greendown Shepherd Huts we can help you begin and then move forward with your glamping business. There are several different aspects to consider, and the planning permission process is just one. There is also the build process and then the art of marketing and letting your hut to customers.
We can help with the infrastructure including the build process of your new glamping site – helping you to complete water and power applications and advising on any other questions you may have regarding the preparation.
The final (and maybe most important) aspect of starting your glamping business is attracting and acquiring customers. Creating beautiful and accommodating outdoor living spaces is just one aspect of this.
The best way to get bookings is with a website and a digital online booking system. Once again this is something we can advise in house, to help you get going. Once you have a platform for people to book, you’ll then need to attract traffic and get people to the booking site.
Social Media and Digital Marketing is essential to drive customers to your website so they can book accommodation. Ask our staff about any of these services today.
How to get your glamping business up and running?
First you need to decide upon how and where you want your new shepherd hut to be advertised and bookable. Do you want to create a website solely for your business or would you prefer to advertise via a third party such as AirBnB or booking.com.
If your adding your new shepherd hut to an already established glamping business then expanding your website to incorporate the new hut will be rather easy, if however this is your first time our advice would be start with a third party platform as they will make it easy for you to manage bookings, communicate with potential guests, deal with all the fees and payouts plus help with insurance cover, once your established enough or would like to expand your business after experiencing the holiday letting lifestyle you could then go on to create your own website and take bookings directly or stay with the third party platform and just create multiple listings on your profile.
Getting started on AirBnB
Great, so you’ve decided on the third party platform for now we will use AirBnB as an example. AirBnB are very well established in the holiday lettings world and make booking easy for both the host and the guest, with an inbox for messaging, private notes that can be added to bookings, easy pricing adjustments and rule setting plus editable listings its the simplest way to list a property and start taking bookings.
To get started you would need to create an AirBnB account once created and verified you would switch to hosting, and start to create your new listing. Our step by step guide on how to do this specifically for AirBnB can be found here.
Top 5 things to do before you start hosting
- Book yourself a photographer to take photos of the hut once it’s in situ and styled, professional photos will appeal to potential guests much more.
- Find your niche – what can you offer your guests that others can’t, what makes you stand out from the crowd, find that special offering!
- Pricing – Use the platform to search the local area for other similar properties and get an idea off what they are charging, use smart pricing whilst you’re starting up or even run a special offer to entice customers.
- Don’t hold back on the small touches – try to imagine yourself as a guest and what facilities or amenities would make your stay extra special, could it be a particular brand of wash products, robes & slippers, access to bikes or sports equipment, maybe a breakfast hamper or fresh milk and water in the fridge, those little touches go along way with guests and if you want.
- Find your suppliers – Housekeeper & laundry service, linens and towels, consumables (tea, coffee, toilet rolls) etc. Work out the most cost effective way of providing your guests with these items without it costing you your profit. Make sure you get a fixed price for the cleaning and set this charge up as an additional charge on your listings prices.
Once you are live
After you have set up your listing, it would be recommended to create a guidebook and attach it to your listing, this will give potential guests a further insight into the local area and what they can do whilst staying with you. Fill this with great places to eat, drink and local attractions.
We would also recommend offering a discounted price for the first few weeks of the listing being advertised this will again entice potential guests, once you start having bookings and guests have stayed with you make sure to follow up and request reviews, the more 5* reviews the more likely your hut is to get booked! You can set up scheduled messages asking for these reviews so you don’t forget.
Delivery Information
Please download this PDF guide to understand all you need to know regarding the delivery of your Greendown Shepherd Hut.
Preparing For Your Hut
Please download this PDF guide to understand all you need to have prepared in preparation for your Greendown Shepherd Hut!
