How new planning rules could make building your own village home easier - Sally Ormiston
If you have ever driven past a patch of land in a Yorkshire village and thought, “That would make a cracking spot for a house,” the latest planning reforms could mean you are no longer just daydreaming.
The government’s latest consultation on planning policy changes brings us closer to a major shift - arguably the biggest in more than a decade, aimed at boosting housebuilding and supporting economic growth. While much focus has been on big infrastructure and urban regeneration, this latest set of proposals includes policy for small-scale development - and that could make all the difference for anyone hoping to build a home in the countryside.
There are several policies that signal a renewed push for the development of small sites. National policy will continue to require at least 10 per cent of a council’s housing delivery to come from sites under one hectare, with lighter planning requirements for small schemes - a meaningful nudge toward smaller, more dispersed development.
There’s good news for aspiring self-builders, the reforms encourage both self and custom build homes, as well as community-led schemes, likely making planning officers more open to well-designed, one-off plots.
Under current rules, rural local authorities can funnel most development into a handful of larger villages - typically those with a shop, school, or public transport. Smaller villages were often off limits, creating pressure on “service villages” and contributing to the slow decline of amenities in smaller settlements.
Take the North Yorkshire district of Ryedale, for instance. It historically limited new homes to just a handful of villages, curtailing development despite being one of the country’s least affordable places to live.
Under the revised framework, all villages, regardless of size, will be considered suitable in principle for new housing.
This shift may even see out-of-settlement opportunities emerge - the redevelopment of previously developed land, or infill plots within groups of houses, for example, with policies intended to make the most efficient use of land.
Existing Green Belt policy is also significant. Across Yorkshire - particularly around Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield and York, large numbers of villages sit close to or within the Green Belt. Until recently, single homes in these areas were almost always automatically refused.
Following changes introduced last year, previously developed land in the Green Belt, such as small workshops, yards, or garages, and ‘grey belt’ land, may now be considered suitable for development. This does not mean open fields are suddenly fair game - but it does mean certain edges of village plots that were once untouchable may become viable.
In short, the next round of reforms creates new opportunities.
Good design will still matter enormously – one-off new homes will need to sit comfortably within village and landscape settings.
For those dreaming of a bespoke home, and for small developers scouting for new opportunities, prospects are looking more promising than they have been in years.
Sally Ormiston is a director at Rural Solutions ruralsolutions.co.uk