Getting planning permission to build on the Green Belt may be tricky – but it’s certainly not impossible. It can be a lengthy, complicated process but we, as Green Belt architects and Green Belt planning consultants, have a strong track record in demonstrating special circumstances, formulating winning Green Belt planning applications, and designing sensitive, sustainable yet inspirational architectural designs.
As one of the nation's leading architecture and planning firms, we have secured Green Belt planning permissions for unprecedented and quite exceptional new build developments. Our rich experience in Green Belt developments combined with our holistic design and planning approach means that we can help you drive your vision forward in sensitive rural settings and within Green Belt areas.
Green Belt land is governed by the strictest planning controls that aimed to prevent “inappropriate development”. Therefore, before you go any further, you need to know what – if anything – would be considered appropriate development on your plot. For a modest fee, we will carry out an expert feasibility assessment that will give you a clear, realistic understanding of what you can do with your plot and lay out the options for you.
As Green Belt architects and Green Belt planning consultants, we will explain what Paragraphs 147, 148 and 149 of the National Planning Policy Framework mean in the real world, and how to find the right exception or “very special circumstances” to use in your case.
If you are considering buying a plot in the Green Belt with the idea of developing it, we strongly recommend that you have a feasibility assessment carried out before you commit to the purchase. This could save you substantial amounts of money (and time) in the long run.
Paragraph 147 of the NPPF states that: “Inappropriate development is, by definition, harmful to the Green Belt and should not be approved except in very special circumstances”. We will explain the exceptions when development is appropriate, what the special circumstances are and discuss with you which of them applies to your project, and the other pathways through the rules that can help – for instance, Paragraph 80 about isolated homes in the countryside and Class Q permitted development conversion of agricultural buildings to other uses.
By working with our experienced Green Belt planning consultants, you will save time and avoid the aggravation that dealing with this notoriously complicated process can cause.
After we have pinpointed why you should in principle be able to get permission for conversions, extensions or new buildings in the Green Belt, we will start work on site-specific solutions – this is one aspect of architecture where repurposed designs will never be accepted.
As architects and planning consultants specialising in Green Belt land developments, we will collaborate with you to create designs that respond to the landscape, with the aim of enhancing rather than detracting from the surroundings.
Obtaining planning consent in the Green Belt is rarely straightforward but it can be done. Your application will involve a sensitive approach to the Green Belt setting, high architectural value and an understanding of what it is that the local planning authority values and is trying to protect.
With those elements, plus a deep appreciation of the national policy aimed at preventing harmful and inappropriate development, we can craft an application that will get you planning permission that will make your Green Belt wishes come true.
“ Nicole at Urbanist Architecture provided an excellent service and got the desired planning result in Greenbelt. ”
James M. — Buckinghamshire
“ Ufuk was constantly communicative from day one. He engaged with us during the whole process, understood our requirements very well, gave us very helpful architecture / planning /design advice and delivered more than we asked for. Cannot give them high enough praise. ”
Marvin G. — Hertfordshire
If you are asking "What can I do with Green Belt land?", then what you need to find are Green Belt architects and planners who have spent years getting to grips with the policies that set out what you can and can't build on the land on the edges of London, Bournemouth, Bristol, Oxford, Cambridge, Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton, Nottingham and Derby, Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester, Stockport, Bolton and Wigan, Liverpool, Southport, Blackpool and the Wirral, Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield and Wakefield, York, and Newcastle, Sunderland and Durham.
You should work with architects, planners and urban designers who understand the Green Belt purposes and the all-important Green Belt exceptions - the circumstances when the general rule that councils should consider "construction of new buildings as inappropriate in the Green Belt" does not apply, and could offer a way forward even if your land does not fit into one of those categories.
We are a multidisciplinary team of architects, planning consultants, interior designers and project managers offering multiple services under one roof. When you work with our firm, you have the support of our entire studio behind you - no matter what.
We specialise in crafting creative design and planning strategies to unlock the hidden potential of developments, secure planning permission and deliver imaginative projects on tricky sites
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