St Albans District Council recently approved the practice’s plans for a five-bedroom home to replace existing buildings on the greenbelt site at Sauncey Wood, Harpenden. The 205m² scheme is an expanded version of an earlier scheme for the plot, consented in 2024.

Feneley Studio has put this decision down to new rules brought in by an updated NPPF, which allow the redevelopment of previously developed land where it would not cause ‘substantial harm’ to openness.

Planning officers accepted that the additional land targeted by the extended plans for the site – a garden containing multiple outbuildings – met the criteria of being ‘previously developed’. The existing consent for a house also contributed to the planning committee’s decision to approve.

The council also noted that the proposal was a good fit for the character of the area. Despite featuring a larger footprint than the original permission, it remained ‘compact in form’, with a ‘sunken nature’ responding to the change in elevations across the plot, and it was concluded that it would not ‘unacceptably detract from the verdant nature of the site’.

The officers’ report said: ‘The proposal is acceptable in terms of its design, landscaping, amenity, parking provision, highway safety, ecology and biodiversity net gain.’

The amended plans increase the previously approved house’s floor space by 39 per cent and volume by 108m3 – a change the planners concluded was within the guidance limits and would not materially harm greenbelt openness.

 

A spokesperson for Feneley Studio said: ‘The decision [turned] on changes to green-belt policy introduced in the latest NPPF.

‘The revised wording allows redevelopment of previously developed land where it would not cause “substantial harm” to openness, replacing earlier, stricter tests.’

They added: ‘The decision reflects greater flexibility for redevelopment and amendments in the green belt, particularly where schemes build on existing permissions and impacts on openness are judged modest.’

Following the approval, the project is set to start on site later this year.

Feneley Studio has previously won permission for rural homes under the country house clause. In 2023, the St Albans-based practice won approval for a timber-framed, self-build Passivhaus on green-belt land in Bedfordshire, which is due for completion this summer.

Model of consented Feneley Studio self-build home scheme in Sauncey Wood, credit: Feneley Studio

Project data

Location Sauncey Wood, Hertfordshire
Local authority St Albans District Council
Type of project New house
Client Private
Architecture, interiors, landscape, models and visuals Feneley Studio
Planning consultant DLA Town Planning
Structural engineer JD Structural Design
Principal designer Feneley Studio
Funding Private
Start on site date Late 2026
Gross internal floor area 205m²
Planning application reference 5/2025/1314

Model of consented Feneley Studio self-build home scheme in Sauncey Wood