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Guides/Planning guide
Planning guide

Can I use my land for open storage? Planning explained

What planning permission you need to use land or farm buildings for yard space, container storage or units in England, what councils look for, and how to avoid enforcement.

By Stag Commercial Group7 min readUpdated October 2026

The short answer

In most cases, yes, but you will usually need planning permission. Using land for open storage, parking commercial vehicles or stationing storage containers is normally a material change of use, and that needs consent unless the land already has a lawful storage or commercial use.

Rule of thumbIf the land is currently a field, garden or working farmyard, assume you need permission. If it has been used as a commercial yard or depot for many years, you may already have a lawful use worth proving.

Which use class is storage?

Storage and distribution falls under Use Class B8. Light industrial workshops fall under Class E(g)(iii), and general industrial under B2. Open storage yards, container storage and vehicle parking for businesses are usually treated as B8 or as a mixed use, which is why most schemes are described as "B8 storage" in the application.

Permitted development for farm buildings (Class R)

Farmers have a useful shortcut. Class R of the General Permitted Development Order lets certain agricultural buildings change to a flexible commercial use, including B8 storage, through a prior approval process rather than a full planning application.

Changes that came into force on 21 May 2024 raised the floorspace limit from 500 to 1,000 square metres and widened the uses allowed. The council still checks matters such as transport, noise, contamination and flooding, and the building must have been in agricultural use. It applies to buildings, so open yard storage around them usually still needs permission.

The 10-year rule and lawful use

If land has been used continuously for storage for long enough, that use can become lawful and immune from enforcement. Since 25 April 2024 the period in England is 10 years for all breaches. You prove it with a Lawful Development Certificate (a Certificate of Lawful Existing Use), backed by evidence such as invoices, photos and statements. A lawful use makes a site far more valuable and far easier to develop.

What councils look for

  • Access and traffic: safe visibility at the entrance, and roads that suit vans and trailers.
  • Neighbours: noise, lighting, hours of use and vehicle movements.
  • Visual impact: container heights, stacking, screening and landscaping, especially in open countryside.
  • Flood risk and drainage: hardstanding changes how water runs off.
  • Policy: councils are more positive about reusing existing buildings and brownfield yards than new storage on open fields.

Typical conditions you should expect

On our own schemes, consents have come with a site management plan, set operating hours, a ban on stacking containers, a height limit and uses tied to the approved layout. Expect similar. Build them into the way the site runs from day one: it keeps neighbours on side and the consent safe.

How to give your application the best chance

  1. Check the planning history and any lawful use before spending money.
  2. Book pre-application advice with the council.
  3. Submit with a site management plan, hours, lighting and landscaping already worked out.
  4. Talk to neighbours before you submit, not after the objections arrive.
  5. Never start the use before you have consent. Retrospective applications attract the strongest opposition.

This guide is general information, not legal or planning advice. Every site is different, which is why our appraisal starts with the planning position.