Paragraph 84 (formerly Paragraph 80) is a planning policy that allows for truly outstanding, isolated homes in the UK countryside. Studio Bark is a leading specialist in this route, with 18 approvals and counting. Discover selected Paragraph 84 bespoke homes below...
Our Paragraph 84 Planning Approvals
Last Updated: April 2026
If ever a piece of planning policy could be called exciting, Paragraph 84 (previously Paragraph 80, 79 and Para 55 of the NPPF) is just that. The exception clause is ideal for forward thinking clients who want to create beautiful and rigorously environmental buildings.
This progressive part of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) demands higher quality architecture in return for building in isolated locations. Whether building a new home on agricultural land, Areas of Outstanding Beauty (AONB) or the green belt. This interesting piece of planning legislation champions more creative and sustainable architecture.
Studio Bark have secured 18 planning approvals for exceptional countryside homes on challenging rural sites. This includes 13 successes specifically under Paragraph 84(e) and a further five consents achieved through a proactive, collaborative approach with local authorities, where we navigated local policy to find a smoother, more direct path to approval. Below is a selection of our Paragraph 84 approvals with insights and links to applications.
As you'll soon see, no Paragraph 84 home is the same, but a product of the site and ambition of the client.
Studio Bark has built its reputation as experts in the so-called ‘Country House Exemption Clause’. We understand how this policy can tip the planning balance in your favour, and have undertaken extensive research of Paragraph 84 (previously Paragraph 80, 79 and 55) over a decade. Read about it here.
Read our industry leading research and analysis here
Black Barn
This paragraph 84 (previously Paragraph 80) house in the Suffolk countryside received planning permission from Suffolk Coastal District Council Planning Authority in February 2016. Prior to that, Black Barn was reviewed at RIBA Suffolk Design Review Panel; a design-focused ‘judging panel’. Their impartial feedback ultimately supported the proposal, having material consideration in the planning application process.
Read the successful Paragraph 84 planning application.
Black Barn is a rigorously environmental Paragraph 84 family home. The design is a modern yet sensitive interpretation of the black agricultural barn. It is a typology that has scattered the East Anglian countryside for centuries. Black timber cladding of the exterior and exposed structural timbers reference a vernacular language through this contemporary re-imagining.
Black Barn is a floating sculptural form surrounded by wild grass meadow. Consequently its shape is designed to have a light impact on its environment and its form is evolved from environmental considerations. This includes solar heat gain, shading and passive ventilation. Therefore, it establishes a dialogue with the seasonal and diurnal rhythms of the site.
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Periscope House
Studio Bark's original 'Countryside Clause' approval, this affordable and environmental family home won permission unanimously at planning committee through Paragraph 55 (now Paragraph 84 of the National Planning Policy Framework) and was featured on a Grand Designs episode back in 2014. The Paragraph 84 home received planning permission from Broadland DC planning authority in August 2013, after spending 7 weeks in planning.
Find the successful Paragraph 84 planning application here.
Periscope House sits on previously undeveloped land in rural Norfolk. The two timber clad periscopic balconies frame the beautiful views to the River Tud’s valley. Their overhangs ensures that the hot summer sun is blocked, whereas the cooler winter sun enters the thermal envelope with very little obstruction.
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Chalkstream House
This exceptional home was approved on Green Belt land in 2026. Working proactively with North Hertfordshire District Council, Studio Bark demonstrated the 'very special circumstances' needed for development within the Green Belt.
Read the successful Paragraph 84 planning application.
Located on the edge of the Chiltern Hills, the area is characterised by its chalk geology, deeply influencing Chalkstream House’s material palette. Whilst contemporary, the home remains thoughtful and sensitive with a distinct connection to the underlying geology and above ground landscape. Material mapping shows that the majority of construction materials can be sourced within a 20 mile radius.
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Water Farm
This Paragraph 84 home received planning permission from Babergh Mid Suffolk planning authority in February 2018, after spending 9 weeks in planning. Prior to that, Water Farm was reviewed at Suffolk Design Review Panel; a design-focused ‘judging panel’. Their impartial feedback ultimately supported the proposal, having material consideration in the planning application process.
Find the successful Paragraph 84 planning application here.
Water Farm is a 5 bedroom off-grid family home on the edge of Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The client had an ambition to create a unique and functional rural home suited to the needs of a young family of 5, with strong historic ties to the site. Taking influence from the traditional farmsteads and the material expression of beautiful old timber-frames. A heavy weight plinth defines the ground floor, contrasted with the striking timber clad roof form.
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Orchard House
This paragraph 84 home received planning permission from Warrington BC planning authority in March 2016, after spending 9 weeks in planning. It comprises a two-storey, four bedroom environmental home in the green belt.
Find the successful Paragraph 84 planning application here.
Orchard House is a rigorously sustainable home for an environmentally conscious young family. Studio Bark conceived the project through the client’s childhood memories of time spent in the former Orchard, where he was helped his Grandfather drive the Rotavator and his grandmother pick the fruit. 30 years on, the Orchard will now be restored using a considered mix of local species. The restoration will be able to keep its longevity, being secured by this modest contextual house.
Orchard House has been shortlisted for a RIBA North West Award.
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Breach House
This Paragraph 84 home is one designed with water at its heart, and was granted approval in 2024. It is now in the technical design phase.
Find the successful Paragraph 84 planning application here.
The proposal comprises a holistic site strategy, informed by detailed analysis of setting and landscape, bringing significant enhancement to an ecologically-degraded agricultural site. The scheme achieves an exceptional biodiversity net gain of 60%+ while providing on-site carbon drawdown and natural flood water management.
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Grain House
This Paragraph 84 home received planning permission from Horsham District Council in November 2017 after spending 9 weeks in planning. Grain House is a mutli-generational family home and a truly landscape driven piece of architecture.
Find the successful Paragraph 84 planning application here.
The force driving the Grain House is the client’s desire to create a profound and unique piece of architecture in a beautiful setting, with habitat walls, new wetland and landscape which grows right up to the house.
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Pivot House
This Paragraph 84 home received planning permission from Breckland Council planning authority in March 2016. Pivot House a super-low energy, low impact family home in the Norfolk countryside. The proposal sits outside any settlement boundary, hence the design met the very challenging criteria of Paragraph 84.
Find the successful Paragraph 84 planning application here.
Pivot House‘s concept relates to the random nature of tree growth. This is in consideration of a parabolic arrangement of beams flying from a central spine. It is demarcated by the location of the tree placed in the centre of the courtyard. While providing an innovative timber framed structure, it works with a realistic budget using locally sourced air dried timber.
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Cliff House
This paragraph 84 home received planning permission in January 2020 after being granted at appeal. Cliff House is a Paragraph 84 home designed to house three generations of the client’s family. This proposal aims to create a beautiful home using the resources that surround it.
Find the successful Paragraph 84 planning application here.
Cliff House uses innovative hemp panels to reflect surrounding agricultural style whilst using natural materials and avoiding high carbon aluminium sheeting. The scheme includes over 1000 new trees which ensures the project is a carbon negative scheme in a matter of years.
This project is now complete, with photos coming soon.
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Billingford
This paragraph 84 home received planning permission from Breckland Council planning authority in 2018, after spending 20 weeks in planning.
Find the successful Paragraph 84 planning application here.
Billingford is a two bedroom house with open-plan kitchen, living and dining space, sitting on a plot of land within the small village in Breckland, Norfolk. Sited in the north west corner of the plot, the home is arranged around a south facing, 3 sided courtyard offering views across the length of the site and glimpses of the village church beyond.
The home is constructed using Studio Bark’s flat-pack U-Build system. U-Build was chosen in response to the client’s self-build ambitions which allowed them greater involvement with the build process.
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