Exception Houses – Paragraph 84 of the NPPF

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Exception Houses – Paragraph 84 of the NPPF

Paragraph 84 of the National Planning Policy Framework allows for the development of isolated homes in the countryside according to the following criteria:

Planning policies and decisions should avoid the development of isolated homes in the countryside unless one or more of the following circumstances apply:

a) there is an essential need for a rural worker, including those taking majority control of a farm business, to live permanently at or near their place of work in the countryside;

b) the development would represent the optimal viable use of a heritage asset or would be appropriate enabling development to secure the future of heritage assets;

c) the development would re-use redundant or disused buildings and enhance its immediate setting;

d) the development would involve the subdivision of an existing residential building; or

e) the design is of exceptional quality, in that it:

is truly outstanding, reflecting the highest standards in architecture, and would help to raise standards of design more generally in rural areas; and
would significantly enhance its immediate setting, and be sensitive to the defining characteristics of the local area

Dwellings that meet the criteria at Item E are informally known as ‘exception houses’. The tests set out in this item are a very high bar which means it is very uncommon that applications are considered to meet these criteria. In East Suffolk, far fewer than half of the pre-application enquiries we receive progress to application stage.

Historic agricultural practices have led to continuous changes in the landscape and these have been reflected in the architecture of these practices – new forms of dwellings, building types, materials, layout and organisation, and position in the landscape. Indeed, the countryside has been a far from conservative place in terms of radical changes that have been effected and much of the historic wealth of Suffolk has been derived from these. What has happened recently, however, in new development has been a fossilisation of what looks appropriate or ‘fits in’ with design in rural areas such that new design merely apes the past. The benefit of this NPPF test and of the high quality schemes it produces is that they continuously develop the language of rural design and help create a twenty-first century vernacular. The 21^st century should have its own form of architectural expression – reflecting our own issues about sustainable development, solar gain, passive heating, environmental impact, sourcing of materials and energy, and new forms generated by the possibilities of developing building technology.

Approved Schemes in East Suffolk

View the portfolio of approved schemes within East Suffolk.

The process

At East Suffolk Council we have an established process for considering these applications:

Applicant requests pre-application advice Pre-application advice service » East Suffolk Council
The Planning Case Officer, Landscape Officer and Design and Heritage Officer attend a site visit with the applicant and their architect
A written response is provided
Design development and further pre-application advice if necessary
If East Suffolk Council consider that the scheme has merit then the applicant should present to the Suffolk Design Review Panel for further, independent feedback
Design development following Suffolk Design Review Panel feedback
Planning application submitted
The application is determined by East Suffolk Council Planning Committee

Local Guidance

Historic Environment SPD Historic-Environment-SPD-reduced.pdf (eastsuffolk.gov.uk)

Suffolk Landscape Character Assessment Suffolk Landscapes - Countryside Environment Service

The role of the Suffolk Design Review Panel

The Suffolk Design Review Panel (est. 2012) is an independent body comprised of locally based experts from across the built environment professions, with the fundamental aim to promote and encourage high standards in the design of the built environment in Suffolk.

The NPPF states at paragraph 138 that:

Local planning authorities should ensure that they have access to, and make appropriate use of, tools and processes for assessing and improving the design of development….For assessing proposals there is a range of tools including…design advice and review arrangements…In assessing applications, local planning authorities should have regard to the outcome from these processes, including any recommendations made by design review panels.

Following a short presentation on the scheme by the applicant, with the local planning authority present, a discussion is carried out by the Design Review Panel, after which a written report is provided to the applicant and planning authority.

Further information on the panel, its terms and conditions, who sits upon and chairs it, and its fees, can be found on its website: Suffolk Design Review Panel | riba1 (ribasuffolk.com).

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