Farm buildings, England
What does an agricultural building cost?
Steel portal frame or timber, a 12 metre span or a 27 metre one, a bare shell or a full slab with roller doors and drainage: farm building quotes move so far with specification that a single rate per square metre tells you almost nothing useful. Below is the honest version, the eight things contractors actually price and the planning route that decides your start date. Tell us about the building and agricultural building contractors will quote your job.
What happens next
- Tell us about the building: use, rough size, frame, whether you need a slab. Two minutes, no account.
- We pass your details to agricultural building contractors covering your postcode, and to no one else.
- They price your actual job, usually after a site visit. Compare, choose, or walk away.
Agricultural Building Cost is a free introduction service operated by Ellul Solutions Ltd. We are not a construction firm, a planning consultancy or a structural engineer, and nothing here is planning, structural or legal advice. We are not affiliated with any government department, local planning authority or trade body named on this site. We pass your details to relevant agricultural building contractors who quote you directly; we may receive a fee from providers, you pay nothing and are under no obligation. Statutory limits quoted are cited to legislation.gov.uk and were checked on the date shown, permitted development rights change, so confirm the current position with your local planning authority.
What sets the price of an agricultural building, 2026
Last updated
We do not publish a price per square metre for farm buildings, because there is no honest one. The same 400 square metre footprint can be a bare steel shell on existing hardcore or a fully clad, fully doored building on a reinforced power-floated slab with drainage, and those are different jobs with different bills. This table is what contractors actually price, why each line moves the number, and the exact thing to ask for so two quotes can be compared.
This is a cost driver table, not a price table. Each row names a specification decision that contractors price separately, explains the direction it moves a quote, and gives the wording that forces the item into the quote so competing prices cover the same scope. It is built from the way agricultural building tenders are structured, not from a survey of prices, and it carries no figures because a single rate per square metre cannot honestly describe a market this variable. Statutory limits referenced in the planning row are cited to legislation.gov.uk. For your number, get quotes for your actual building.
| Cost driver | Why it moves the price | What to ask for in the quote |
|---|---|---|
| Frame type: steel portal or timber | Steel portal frames carry the clear spans most modern farm buildings want and are usually the default above about 15 metres; timber can compete at smaller spans and in livestock housing. The two are quoted by different suppliers with different lead times, so the choice changes both price and programme. | A price for the frame both ways where the span allows, with the design standard and the fabricator named. |
| Clear span and bay spacing | Span drives steel weight, which drives frame cost. Wider bays mean fewer frames but heavier purlins and rails. A building specified for a combine or a telehandler turning circle costs more per square metre than one sized for pallets. | Steel tonnage or frame schedule, plus the bay spacing, so you can see what you are paying for. |
| Eaves height | Height adds steel, cladding area and wind loading at once. Grain stores and machinery sheds specified two metres taller than needed carry that cost across the whole envelope. | A price at your working eaves height and one a metre lower, so you can see what the extra height costs. |
| Groundworks, foundations and the concrete slab | Often the largest single line, and the one most often excluded from a headline frame price. Site levels, soft ground, mass fill, pad foundations, slab thickness, mesh and power floating all vary enormously by site. | Groundworks quoted as a separate priced item with slab thickness, reinforcement spec and finish stated, plus who carries the risk on unexpected ground conditions. |
| Cladding specification | Fibre cement, single skin steel, insulated composite panel and Yorkshire boarding are all normal on farms and sit at very different price points. Roof lights, ventilation and the choice of side sheeting change the envelope cost more than most farmers expect. | The product, gauge or thickness, colour and warranty for roof and walls, listed separately. |
| Doors, openings and internal walls | Roller shutters, sliding doors, personnel doors, feed barriers and concrete panel walls to head height are priced per opening or per metre and are commonly listed as extras. | A line per opening with size and door type, and a rate per metre for any concrete panel walling. |
| Drainage, roof water and slurry separation | Clean roof water must be kept out of dirty yard drainage, and livestock buildings bring slurry and effluent storage requirements. Underground drainage, tanks and yard falls are civils work, not building work. | A separate drainage scope: roof water route, dirty water route, any tank or store, and whether design is included. |
| Site access, distance and craneage | Erection needs plant on site. Long farm tracks, low bridges, overhead lines, soft approaches and restricted turning all add days, and travel distance from the fabricator adds delivery cost to every load. | Whether craneage, access matting and delivery are included, and how many working days on site are allowed. |
| Planning route: prior approval or full application | In England, agricultural permitted development under Class A of Part 6 applies to units of 5 hectares or more and is limited (for example a building's ground area must not exceed 1,500 square metres, and height must not exceed 12 metres, or 3 metres within 3 kilometres of an aerodrome perimeter). Anything outside those limits is a full planning application, which costs professional fees and months. | Confirmation of which route the building takes, and who is preparing the prior approval application and plans. |
- Agricultural building quotes are not comparable unless groundworks, the concrete slab, drainage and doors are each priced as separate line items, because those are the scopes most often left out of a headline frame price.
- In England, Class A agricultural permitted development applies to agricultural units of 5 hectares or more, and does not permit a building whose ground area would exceed 1,500 square metres (GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 6).
- Under Class A the developer must apply to the local planning authority before beginning development for a determination on whether prior approval is required as to siting, design and external appearance, and must not start until the authority responds or 28 days pass without a determination.
Cite this page
“What sets the price of an agricultural building, 2026”, Agricultural Building Cost, https://agriculturalbuildingcost.co.uk/ (updated 2026-08-14). This is a cost driver table, not a price table. Each row names a specification decision that contractors price separately, explains the direction it moves a quote, and gives the wording that forces the item into the quote so competing prices cover the same scope. It is built from the way agricultural building tenders are structured, not from a survey of prices, and it carries no figures because a single rate per square metre cannot honestly describe a market this variable. Statutory limits referenced in the planning row are cited to legislation.gov.uk. For your number, get quotes for your actual building.
Guides
Every figure sourced and dated.
- Agricultural building cost per square metre: why the rate misleads
A single rate per square metre cannot price a farm building. What changes the number: span, eaves height, cladding, slab, doors and access, plus how to compare quotes.
- Agricultural building planning permission and prior approval
When a farm building needs planning permission in England, what Class A permitted development allows on units of 5 hectares or more, and how prior approval works.
- Steel portal frame vs timber frame agricultural buildings
Steel portal frame or timber for a farm building: how span, eaves height, livestock, corrosion and lead times decide the frame, and what to ask each supplier.
- Agricultural building contractors: how to compare farm building quotes
How to compare agricultural building contractors: scope, exclusions, ground risk, structural design, payment stages and lead times, with the questions that expose gaps.
Frequently asked
How much does an agricultural building cost?
It depends almost entirely on scope. A delivered frame kit, an erected shell and a turnkey building with groundworks, a reinforced slab, doors and drainage are three very different prices for the same footprint. Rather than a rate per square metre, price the scope: get separate lines for groundworks, foundations, slab, frame, cladding, doors and drainage, then compare three quotes against the same written specification. Agricultural building contractors cost the same shed very differently when each prices a different scope.
What is the biggest hidden cost in a farm building?
Groundworks and the concrete slab. They are frequently excluded from the headline price, they vary hugely with site levels and ground conditions, and they are the item most likely to generate a variation once digging starts. Ask for them as a separately priced item and ask who carries the risk on unexpected ground.
Do agricultural buildings need building regulations approval?
Planning and building regulations are separate regimes. Government guidance is clear that even where a planning application is not needed, other consents including building regulations may be required, so check with your local authority building control or a registered building control approver for your specific building rather than assuming an agricultural exemption applies.
How big can an agricultural building be under permitted development?
In England, under Class A of Part 6 of the GPDO 2015, the ground area covered by a building erected, extended or altered must not exceed 1,500 square metres, and works or structures for accommodating livestock or plant and machinery from engineering operations must not exceed 1,000 square metres. Height is limited to 12 metres, or 3 metres within 3 kilometres of an aerodrome perimeter. Other conditions apply, so confirm with your local planning authority.
How long does it take to get a farm building up?
The build itself is often the short part. Allow for the prior approval determination, where the local planning authority has 28 days to say whether approval is required, then frame fabrication lead time, then groundworks and slab curing before erection. A full planning application instead of prior approval adds months. Start the consent route before you finalise the specification.
Is this quote service really free?
Yes, free to you and with no obligation to accept any quote. We pass your details only to relevant agricultural building contractors, who quote you directly. We may receive a fee from those providers, which is how the service is funded.
Sources
- legislation.gov.uk. GPDO 2015, Schedule 2 Part 6 Class A, agricultural development on units of 5 hectares or more
- legislation.gov.uk. GPDO 2015, Schedule 2 Part 6 Class B, agricultural development on units of less than 5 hectares
- gov.uk. When is permission required (planning practice guidance)
- gov.uk. Building regulations approval