Mobile Field Shelters – planning permission required?

If you keep horses you have have thought about using a mobile field shelter or stable to protect them against the good old British weather. But what are the rules. Can you just add them as long as they can be moved? Or will you need planning permission?

If you do a quick Google search, then you will rapidly discover that mobile field shelters or stables probably do not require planning. This is the story put out by manufacturers of the product. They might use the words generally do not or shouldn’t require planning etc. Buried deep somewhere will be a condition advising you to check with the local authority! This is a very broad statement to make as it is easy to make anything not legal!

You will also read of the Inspectorate having ruled that a mobile shelter or two are legal and can remain.This is because they ruled that the field shelters were not buildings as they were portable and on skids. Instead, they amounted to use of the land. They were chattels.

However this does not give the rights to every mobile shelter. Every inspectorate decision can be unique to certain circumstances and it is common to see decisions going both ways.

A manufacturer’s description is not a planning determination. If you need certainty before buying or installing a shelter, the safest route is to assess the structure, the lawful use of the land and the relevant case-specific facts, and where appropriate seek a formal lawful development certificate.

So what are the facts?

What is a mobile field shelter?

Mobile field shelters are basic structures erected for horses, goats, sheep, pigs, llamas etc. Being mobile they must be easily moveable from one location to another. Often they are built on skids or wheels. They might be made of wood or other suitable materials.

Field Shelter Planning

Equestrian land does not benefit from the agricultural rights in Part 6 merely because horses are present. Other permitted development rights may still be relevant to a particular planning unit, including some minor operations under Part 2. A separate temporary-use right may also be available under Class B of Part 4, subject to its own limits and exclusions.

Being on wheels or skids is not a planning exemption. The question is whether the object is a chattel or has become operational development because of its size, construction, physical attachment and degree of permanence. Moving a shelter around the same field also does not restart a separate temporary-use allowance under Class B.

We also need to consider the lawful use of the land. Simple grazing by horses can remain agricultural, while keeping, riding, training or exercising horses may amount to a material change to equestrian use depending on the facts. If an equestrian use has continued for the relevant immunity period, a Certificate of Lawfulness of Existing Use or Development (CLEUD) can be used to establish that lawfulness. If the use is not lawful, planning enforcement may become relevant.

If the land is agricultural, then there might be permitted development rights for erecting suitable structures under Part 6 of the GPDO. This adds to the confusion!

Some local authorities have decided that a moveable structure is fine within reason. They are quite happy. They have decided that the field shelters are chattels rather than operational development. In our opinion that is the correct decision where it can be demonstrated that these are truly mobile and have not acquired a sufficient degree of permanence. Again as long as the use of the land is legal. Actually moving them regularly is less important in our opinion, just that they can be easily moved.

Fixing a shelter to the ground, constructing foundations, laying a purpose-made base or carrying out associated earthworks can all point towards operational development and a greater degree of permanence. They are not automatic legal tests on their own, but they are important factors. A separate hardstanding may itself also amount to development and needs to be assessed in its own right.

Other local authorities, and these are growing in number, take a harder stance and will require planning permission for any field shelters. Whether they are correct in that stance, is another matter. Mobile field shelters should be considered chattels in our opinion.

If the shelter becomes a stable, then this does complicate matters. If the legal use of the land is agriculture, then both it and the land would be subject to enforcement as the horses are being kept rather than just grazed.

Residential curtilage

If horses are kept as part of the enjoyment of a dwellinghouse, a shelter or stable within the residential curtilage may sometimes fall within Class E of Part 1, but only where the building is genuinely incidental to the enjoyment of the dwellinghouse and all of the Class E limitations are met. A paddock or field is not automatically part of the residential curtilage simply because it is in the same ownership.

So, does a mobile field shelter need planning permission?

Sometimes yes and sometimes no. A genuinely mobile shelter may be a chattel rather than a building, but that conclusion depends on the structure’s size, construction, attachment and permanence as well as the lawful use of the land. Calling it ‘mobile’ does not decide the planning position.

If the land is being used unlawfully for an equestrian purpose, the planning authority can consider that breach separately from the shelter itself. Our planning enforcement guide explains the wider process.

For certainty before installation, consider a CLOPUD. If the shelter already exists and you are establishing that an existing development or use is lawful, the appropriate route may instead be a CLEUD. If you would like us to assess the facts and prepare the application, get in touch.

The practical message is simple: check both the status of the shelter and the lawful use of the land. One does not cure a problem with the other.

If you need further help, why not post on our forums.

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Mobile Field Shelters Page Updated: 22nd August 2026