Do barns and outbuildings add value to a farm?
It can, when a barn still works as a farm building. Virginia exempts a farm building from the building code only if it is "not used for residential purposes" and used primarily for farm uses, with restaurant, flood plain and agritourism exceptions. Land under a barn counts toward land use acreage, the barn is assessed like any structure, and its dollar worth is an opinion of value.
A hay barn and the same barn with an apartment sit on opposite sides of one phrase
Take one barn that stores hay and a tractor, and the same barn after its loft has been finished into an apartment someone lives in. Under the building code statute, a farm building or structure is one "not used for residential purposes", located on property where farming operations take place, and used primarily for listed farm uses such as product storage and sale, sheltering animals, farm business offices, and farm machinery.
That phrase is what separates the two. Farm buildings and structures are exempt from the Uniform Statewide Building Code; a barn used for residential purposes does not meet the definition, whatever it started life as. Whether a specific building meets every part of the definition is the local building official's call.
The exemption has its own exceptions built in
The farm building exemption is not unconditional. Three situations bring a farm building back under the code or under a related set of requirements.
| Situation | What applies |
|---|---|
| A building or part of a building on a farm is operated as a restaurant as the Code defines one and licensed as such by the Board of Health | The Building Code exemption does not reach it |
| A farm building lies within a flood plain or a mudslide-prone area | Flood-proofing or mudslide regulations, as applicable |
| The public is invited in for an agritourism activity, and the building is used for display, sampling or sale of products produced on the farm | Listed fire extinguisher, emergency plan and signage requirements |
The exemption is from the building code. Whether zoning or any other county approval applies to a particular barn is a question for the county and its building official, not something the exemption answers; the general subject of a building permit is in the glossary. A shop or barn on a house lot rather than working farm ground is a different question, about a home's price rather than a farm's, covered at does a shop or barn add to a home's price.
The ground under a barn stays in land use acreage; the barn is assessed like any structure
Separately from the building code, a barn touches a farm's land use taxation in two ways. Virginia's statute includes the area under barns, sheds, silos, cribs and greenhouses in the land devoted to the qualifying use, but leaves out land under and used with the farmhouse or any structure not related to that use.
The barn itself is not carried at use value assessment the way the fields are. Structures on land use property are valued, assessed and taxed like other taxable structures, and the land book must show both the use value and the fair market value of the land. So the ground under a working barn stays in the acreage count, while the barn carries its own assessed value.
A barn's value to a buyer is what the building can still do, not just its footprint
None of the classification questions above produces a dollar figure. What a barn or outbuilding is worth to a buyer depends on its condition, its size against the operation the buyer has in mind, and whether it still does the farm work it was built for.
Roof, foundation and access
A barn that still keeps hay dry and lets equipment in and out is doing real work. One that needs a new roof or a rebuilt foundation is a cost a buyer weighs against what it would take to replace it.Livestock, hay or equipment
A dairy barn, a hay barn and an equipment shed are not interchangeable; what a buyer wants to do with the farm decides which outbuildings add to the number.Adding to, converting or opening to the public
Finishing living space in a barn, or opening it to the public for agritourism, can take it outside the farm building definition or into one of the exemption's exceptions. What follows from that is a question for the local building official before anyone assumes the exemption carries forward.Whether an inn, event barn or lodging business sells differently from a working farm is its own subject at how do you sell an inn or lodging property, and whether fencing adds to a land sale is covered at does fencing help sell land.
Four questions about a farm's outbuildings, and the desk that answers each
| The question | Who answers it |
|---|---|
| Whether a specific building counts as an exempt farm building or structure | The local building official |
| Whether the acreage around it qualifies for land use taxation | The Commissioner of the Revenue |
| What approvals an addition, conversion or new use of a barn would need | The local building official and the county |
| What the barn or outbuilding adds toward the sale price | An opinion of value, or a lender's appraisal |
How a whole working farm is priced, barns and all, is the fuller subject at how is a farm priced. What permits a new house on the same ground would need is covered at what permits do you need to build a house in Virginia, and whether a low outbuilding site sits inside a mapped flood hazard area is answered at can I build in a floodplain.
Curious what the barns and outbuildings on a farm are actually worth?
Send the county, the acreage and what each building is used for now. Lowell will look at the barns as working buildings and weigh them into one number for the whole farm. No cost, no obligation.
Got it. Thank you.
We'll be in touch shortly with an honest read.
Questions this raises
Is the barn exemption the same thing as needing no permits?
No. The exemption is from the Uniform Statewide Building Code, and it has exceptions: a licensed restaurant on the farm, flood-proofing or mudslide rules in a flood plain or mudslide-prone area, and fire extinguisher, emergency plan and signage duties for agritourism buildings. Zoning and other county approvals are separate questions, so the county and its building official are the offices to ask about a particular barn.
Does the land under the farmhouse count toward land use acreage the way land under a barn does?
No. Virginia's statute leaves out land under, and land actually used in connection with, the farmhouse or home or any structure not related to the qualifying use. That house and its land are valued and assessed like other taxable structures and real estate in the locality. Where exactly that line falls on a given farm is the Commissioner of the Revenue's call.
Can a farm office inside a barn leave it a farm building?
It can. The building code statute lists business or office uses relating to the farm operations among the farm uses, alongside storing farm products, sheltering animals and keeping machinery. The building still has to be one not used for residential purposes, on property where farming operations take place, and used primarily for those listed uses. Whether a specific barn meets all of that is the local building official's call.
Where this page's facts come from
Every rule, office and figure above traces to one of these. Rules change; check the office before you act on one.
- Va. Code 36-97, definitions including farm building or structure Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 36-99, exemption of farm buildings and structures from the Uniform Statewide Building Code Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 58.1-3236, area devoted to agricultural, horticultural, forest or open space use, and assessment of structures Virginia General Assembly