Converting, restoring or carrying out work to any historic building can be a difficult and often frustrating process. When embarking on such an adventure it is crucial that one understands some of the processes involved before an application is submitted to the council.

Features
When converted any period building it is important to retain any original features.

A working oast house consisted of a plenum chamber and drying floor (the kiln), cooling floor, and packing and storage area (the stowage). At the peak of the hop industry many oast houses had green stages built, a wooden slatted decked platform attached to the first floor of the structure which prevented the hops from 'sweating' whilst they were waiting to go to the drying floor.

Around 1 in 10 oast houses are listed buildings. Great care will always have to be taken when working with any listing building. Even if your building isn't listed it is still good practice to follow the guidelines set out for listed buildings to ensure a smoother path to planning consent.

It will vary betweens councils as to how you may convert your building. Some councils are stricter than others in keeping the building as original as possible. For example, some councils have allowed numerous roof lights and large fenestration in the kiln and roof areas, where others have not allowed any windows at all.

The kiln area can be the most controversial part of the conversion as this part of the building would not originally have had any windows. Fenestration should be kept to a minimum, and avoid overlooking any publicly viewed area, avoiding having any windows to a road side for example. Some councils insist that kilns in listed oast houses should not have any new windows inserted, sometimes rendering them useless as a habitable room. Other uses then have to be found, such as a bathroom, utility, or a stairwell.

Disused and Derelict buildings Generally speaking, the worse the condition of a building and the more isolated it is, the more difficult it will be get to planning permission to convert. A derelict building missing walls and a roof may no longer be considered a building and a planning permission could be considered as a new building as opposed to conversion. If is in an isolated location outside the town or village it may have little chance of conversion. Planning policy (such as PPS7) generally states against new development in the countryside. However, every case is different and should be looked at in greater detail to see its individual metrits.

Layout (Dwellings)
When converting an oast house into a dwelling, it is common these days to create an 'upside down' layout within the oast house. With sleeping accomodation on the ground floor this allows the upper floor to be an open plan living area and retain the exposed character of the roof and rafters.

If you have a greenstage (external decking area) you can utilise this for an outside decking area accessed directly from the living area.

Roundels are usually used as bedroom areas, kitchen/dining areas, or playrooms/snugs. If the kiln area is large enough it is sometimes possible to add a third floor ensuite above first floor bedrooms.

Surveys
Old buildings and their surroundings can be delight for many wild creatures, particularly where there are dark areas they can hide in.

Bats and owls are protected species, and surveys of unconverted buildings must always be carried out to check any existence within the site. Any bats found in your building could seriously affect your project, both in time and financially. You maybe required to relocate any bats, or even allocate their own space within the building!

If you have any ponds nearby you may be required to provide a newt survey which can only be carried out between March and June.

Level Surveys maybe needed if you have a site on many levels or a steep site, and a Tree or Landscape Survey will be needed if you have a larger site or one with trees near the building.

Old buildings are usually built on shallow foundations, and may need to underpinned to satisfy building control. Trial holes will need to be dug to expose the existing foundations and structural engineers may need to be involved to determine if underpinning is required. Structural engineers calculations may be required for other affected structural elements.

Footpaths
Most oast houses and long established farms have footpaths or roads running very close to them, as in the past the farms were once a major employment industry in the countryside, and the footpaths were the main links for the locals to get to them. This can complicate matters of conversion further.

Although footpaths can be redirected, this can take many years, and evidence will be need that it is necessary to do so. Where possible it is best to work around the footpath, and be considerate to local requirements.

Gardens
Oast Houses are agricultural buildings, and thus to maintain the appearance of being part of a farm, domestic gardens should usually be kept minimal.

Access Good access to the site from the road is mandatory. Many sites can fall at the first hurdle because there is not safe access in and out of the property from the public highway. Consideration needs to be given to access for emergency services and waste collection. Most oast houses are part of an established farm complex with an established entrance and track so this is not usually a problem.