Farm buildings can be converted into up to 10 homes under permitted development rights

Overall, PDR conversions have delivered just under 104,000 homes since March 2015.

The latest expansion of PDR also doubles the amount of floorspace that can change from agricultural to ‘flexible commercial use’, from 500 square metres to 1,000 sq m.

The government said this would allow farmers to convert agricultural buildings and land into “lucrative business opportunities”, such as outdoor sports facilities, larger farm shops and training centres.

For farms of more than five hectares, the size of new buildings or extensions that can be built under PDR has increased from 1,000 sq m to 1,500 sq m.

For smaller farms, the size of such extensions has increased from 1,000 sq m to 1,250 sq m.

Elsewhere, the ability to build extensions and new buildings in nationally important archaeological sites under PDR has been removed.

Housing secretary Michael Gove announced plans to expand PDR to cover shops and offices of any size in February. He also cut the need for shops to have been empty for a period of time before they could be converted to housing.

Lee Rowley, minister for housing, planning and building safety, said: “Farmers are the lifeblood of communities, and these changes give them the freedom to grow their businesses, and plan for their futures.

“This is all part of our long-term plan for housing to deliver more homes for rural communities and reform the planning system, removing unnecessary barriers to development.”

Mark Spencer, farming minister, said: “I am extremely pleased to support our farmers and provide them the freedom to decide the best uses for buildings on their land, without needless bureaucracy holding them back. 

“We are listening to farmers and putting them at the heart of future development of our rural areas. Helping farmers secure their businesses and get on with the important job of producing food is our top priority.”

In March, a medical charity and academic researcher told Inside Housing about their concerns over the government’s expansion of PDR.

Medact said it had encountered seriously poor housing conditions created via current PDR rules and warned that the new rights could lead to a “further deterioration” in standards.

In February, a report by UCL and the Town and Country Planning Association argued that the current PDR regime was “insufficient to protect people from poor-quality housing”.