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Green Belt

Transform your Green Belt land to create a tailor-made living environment or develop your dream housing development to maximise your ROI

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.

Modern and avant-garde luxury home with stoned wall entrance, black wooden slates around the grey entrance door and on the upper floor; floor to ceiling large single pane windows and dark brown wooden slats
Floor to ceiling windowed lounging area leading directly onto a concreate open patio with decorative stone walls on the inner part of the room blending out to the exterior
Sketchy renders of a proposed green belt master plan of a neighbourhood with large family dwelling of at least two floors, some with extended side garages and others with mansard extensions on the roof

Assess the feasibility of your Green Belt project

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.

Interior of an airy maisonette bedroom with two large single pane windows encased in a black frame, natural wood colours, natural wooden ladder leading upstairs, white walls and white open dressign area with storage

Explore “very special circumstances” appropriate for your property/land

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.

Blue hue living room due to the sunset with natural woodfire in the left side bringing a bit of warmth to the already dark brown furnishings

Design sensitive, pragmatic and imaginative solutions for your Green Belt building

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.

High-end minimalist bathroom with white, taupe and beige tones including a shiny and polished tall mirror suspended from just above the sink all the way to the ceiling

Get planning permission for building on your Green Belt land

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.

“ Required planning permission for a property that was in green belt, in conservation area and also next to grade II listed property and Urbanist architecture were able to get this for us on first attempt. Really enjoyed working with the team and I highly recommend ”

Ben I. — London

“ 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

Green Belt Architects

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.

Illustration of a masterplan proposal on green belt land for a development of 10 family dwellings with large gardens

One-team integrated approach

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.

One-team integrated approach

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.

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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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