Self-Build or Custom-Build in the Countryside? Yes — When It’s Done Properly.

Meadows has secured outline permission (under delegated powers) for 5 self-build/custom-build plots at Pentney, Norfolk (King's Lynn and West Norfolk)  which is the site shown in the above photo— a countryside site just outside the settlement boundary, carefully shaped to read as a natural edge to the village. The Council agreed it complies with the new West Norfolk Local Plan and with the new self-/custom-build policy, proving that the right countryside sites can absolutely succeed — with the right strategy.

What the new Local Plan means for rural edges

King’s Lynn & West Norfolk’s Local Plan 2021–2040 (adopted March 2025) supports proportionate growth on the edge of villages, where proposals knit into character and are genuinely secured as self-/custom-build plots. Policies such as LP01 (Spatial Strategy), LP26 (Smaller Villages & Hamlets) and LP33 (Self & Custom Build Housing) are the backbone of this approach.

Why the Pentney permission is a blueprint

• Countryside edge, not isolated: The site sits immediately adjacent to the settlement boundary, reading as a logical, contained extension — the kind of rural edge the Plan anticipates.

• Policy-led self-build delivery: Plots are expressly self-/custom-build and can be secured by condition/obligation, aligning with LP33 and national guidance that only plots that “will” be self-build actually count.

• Landscape-first design: The layout works within existing hedgerows and visual containment to preserve rural character.

• Clear compliance confirmed: The Planning Statement demonstrates full compliance with the adopted Local Plan and the self-/custom-build policy.

Read this before you try it on your land

Yes, countryside plots just outside settlement boundaries can be consented — but only when they pass a tight set of tests: location, scale, character, serviced-plot delivery, and enforceable self-build controls. The detail matters, and getting it wrong can sink an application even on seemingly similar land. (Recent appeals and guidance show Councils must count only self-build plots that are secured — not ones that merely could be self-build.)

How Meadows unlocks viable countryside self-build or custom-build

We don’t just “submit an application.” We forensically test a site against the Plan and the self-build legal framework, then design the route to ‘yes’:

• Suitability triage for your land: adjacency to a village, landscape containment, safe access, Flood Zone status, and serviceability — we check it all before you spend.

• Policy & legal mechanisms that count: we build in conditions/obligations so your plots qualify as self-/custom-build under the Act and PPG.

• A planning case that persuades: structured compliance with LP01/LP26/LP33 and the NPPF — the same disciplined approach that underpinned our Pentney win.

  
  

Thinking about your countryside plot?

If your land sits on the edge of a village and you’re wondering whether self-/custom-build could work, talk to us first. We’ll give you a clear, no-nonsense view on feasibility and the exact steps to a policy-compliant consent — just like Pentney.

Let’s assess your site:📞 01603 336203 ✉️ contact@meadows.co.uk

Meadows — turning the right countryside sites into consented self-build or custom-build communities.