Paragraph 84 Planning in the Cotswolds & Midlands | Build in the Countryside

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Paragraph 84 luxury countryside home, bespoke timber-clad design for a rural plot in Wrocestershire

Introduction – Building Under Paragraph 84

Thinking about building a home in the Cotswolds or the Midlands countryside? For most, the answer from planning authorities is a firm “no.” But Paragraph 84 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF, updated 2023) creates a rare exception — a planning route that allows truly exceptional homes in locations where new housing is usually refused. Another being “Very Special Circumstances”, which is something you may also consider.

The policy has a long history (previously Paragraphs 80, 79, 55, and before that PPS7), but its aim is consistent: to allow rare, outstanding projects that can justify their place in sensitive rural settings.

For landowners, this can unlock real potential. A site with little prospect of development may, with the right design, achieve permission and add significant value. For clients, it’s a chance to create a bespoke countryside home of the highest quality — whether as a long-term residence, investment, or holiday-let opportunity.

Why Paragraph 84 Matters in the Cotswolds & Midlands

Paragraph 84 carries particular weight here, where planning policy is shaped by highly sensitive landscapes. Large parts of the region fall within the Cotswolds AONB or the Green Belt around Warwickshire and the West Midlands, where most applications are refused outright. Paragraph 84 is one of the very few exceptions.

In parts of the Midlands, such as Warwickshire or Worcester, land can be up to 50% cheaper than comparable areas in the home counties, making the policy especially attractive for those balancing lifestyle with investment.

That said, expectations are high. Councils in Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Oxfordshire expect proposals to be exceptional and not just “well-designed.” I’ve seen schemes succeed where the design integrated seamlessly with the surrounding ecology or drew directly from the forms of the local landscape. But I’ve also seen thoughtful projects rejected for reasons that felt arbitrary, often because local politics weighed more heavily than design quality. That’s why your case has to be watertight.

Interior of a Paragraph 84 luxury countryside home — oak frame design with open-plan living and countryside views across the Malvern Hills.

What Counts as a Paragraph 84 Home?

The policy wording is ambitious. Paragraph 84 says that a new home in the countryside must be “of exceptional quality,” “truly outstanding,” and should “raise standards of design in rural areas.” It also has to enhance its setting and be sensitive to local character.

Those phrases are familiar to anyone who’s read planning policy, but they don’t explain much. What matters is how they are interpreted in practice:

• Architecture that makes its case
  A Paragraph 84 house can never be a standard off-the-peg dwelling. The design has to carry a clear idea and make a strong case for why it deserves to exist in a location where new housing would normally be refused. That’s part of the challenge — and the frustration. In practice, many planning committees are made up of local parish councillors with little or no background in architecture. I’ve sat through meetings where genuinely thoughtful schemes were turned down for reasons that felt arbitrary, more to do with local politics than with design quality. It’s the system we work within, but it means that your case has to be watertight and the architecture beyond question.

• Sustainability as a starting point
  Sticking a few solar panels on the roof won’t cut it. Paragraph 84 homes are expected to lead the way; in energy performance, in materials, and in how resilient they are for the long term.

• A response to the site
  The building has to connect to its setting. In the Cotswolds, that might mean working with the local limestone and the grain of the escarpment. In the Midlands, it could be about woodland edges, farmland patterns, or the relationship to a historic estate.

• Evidence can be delivered
  Paragraph 84 is not about drawings that look good in a design review. Committees expect to see that a project can be built to a very high standard, with the right consultants and the right detailing in place.

The purpose of the policy is to filter out the ordinary. It is there to support the rare schemes that can demonstrate genuine quality, projects that show how rural housing can be done differently.

How Paragraph 84 Decisions Are Made

Decisions for Paragraph 84 homes are usually made either by the local planning committee. In some cases, a scheme may also go before a design review panel for additional scrutiny.

Planning committees are made up of elected councillors. Their role is to represent local communities, not to judge architecture in fine detail. That means decisions can sometimes feel political. Objections carry weight, and councillors are naturally wary of approving a controversial scheme. Very few committee members are trained in design, so the outcome can be inconsistent. In my view, this process is somewhat arbitrary, but it is the system we have in place, so we have to work with it.

Design review panels are different. These involve independent architects, planners and landscape specialists who give professional feedback on whether a design genuinely meets the “exceptional quality” threshold. Their advice is not binding, but in practice, a positive review can strengthen your case considerably. In some authorities, review is a requirement before a Paragraph 84 application is even considered. One of the advantages of this, if it happens, is that the members of a design review panel typically have a good understanding of design quality.

Delegated officer decisions. Typically, delegated decisions are used for smaller projects that are less contentious; therefore, a Paragraph 84 home is unlikely to be approved through this route.

In practice, Paragraph 84 decisions are inconsistent. The same design might be approved in one district and refused in the next. Cotswold District and Stratford-on-Avon tend to be more open to ambitious schemes, while authorities around the West Midlands Green Belt are far stricter. Even between neighbouring counties, the interpretation varies. This is why strategy matters: success depends on a clear planning case, early engagement with officers, and a design strong enough to stand up to both professional and political scrutiny.

Are Paragraph 84 homes expensive?

The short answer is yes, they are more expensive than a conventional house, and don’t let anyone fool you otherwise. The requirement for design quality, sustainability and consultant input inevitably pushes costs up.

That said, the overall cost depends as much on the brief as it does on the square metre rate.

That said, there are effective ways to control costs. One mistake I see time and again, and it’s almost a cliché on Grand Designs, is clients pushing for Paragraph 84 homes that are far larger than they need. They end up as vanity projects. Bigger is not necessarily better. A well-planned 157m² home can meet a family’s needs just as well as a 210m² one, but at a far lower cost. At around £3,900 per square metre, the larger scheme might total £819,000, compared with £612,000 for the smaller, a saving of more than £200,000 simply by being critical about the space that’s genuinely required. It is also worth considering Natural Materials when undertaking such a project.

What Is the Likelihood of Paragraph 84 Approval?

Paragraph 84 is not an easy route, and approval rates vary widely between local authorities. Across the UK, only a small proportion of applications succeed. Figures suggest approval rates of around two-thirds nationally, with schemes that have been through a design review panel achieving closer to 80%.

What makes the difference is usually preparation. Projects that stand a chance of success are the ones that:

• Engage early with the local authority.

• Take the scheme to an independent design review panel for professional scrutiny.

• Assemble the right consultant team to cover landscape, ecology, heritage and sustainability.

Even with all this in place, approval is never guaranteed. Paragraph 84 remains a high-risk route, but one with potentially high rewards — both in terms of creating an exceptional home and in unlocking significant uplift in land value.

Paragraph 84 approval can potentially add £100,000s to the value of your land. 

If you have a plot of land in a rural area without planning permission, it will not necessarily be worth that much. By successfully attaining planning permission, the value of the land overnight, in and of itself, would likely increase significantly.

Costs and Risks of Paragraph 84 Homes

Paragraph 84 is not a cheap or easy route. To stand a chance, you need the right consultants: landscape, ecology, planning, sustainability, and often input from a Design Review Panel. On top of that, surveys on things like trees, highways, and heritage are all required before you even get near a decision. This is why pre-construction costs usually sit somewhere between £30,000 and £100,000. That’s the reality: it’s a high-risk planning route. Even a great design can be refused for reasons outside architecture.

The way I deal with this is by breaking the process into stages. We test ideas early, check the policy constraints, and only push forward when it still makes sense. Each stage is a chance to pause and ask: Is this viable? It’s our way of de-risking the project for our clients.

It doesn’t remove the risk completely, nothing can under Paragraph 84, but it does give clients more control, and stops projects turning into blind leaps of faith.

Concept design for an ongoing Paragraph 84 countryside home — site plan showing orientation, sun path and integration with the rural landscape.

Final Thoughts

Paragraph 84 is one of the most challenging routes in UK planning — but also one of the most rewarding. When handled properly, it can unlock land value and deliver a truly exceptional countryside home.

If you’re considering a project in the Cotswolds or Midlands and want to explore whether Paragraph 84 could work for your site, get in touch. I’m happy to review your options and give you a realistic picture of the process.

If you have a site that might benefit from NPPF's Paragraph 84 and would like to discuss it with us, feel free to schedule a call by clicking the link below.