North Cornwall · PL35 · Cornwall Council North
Bespoke New Builds in Boscastle
A bespoke new build is the longest project we do, and the most rewarding. From plot appraisal through planning, building regulations and construction, you work with one team from the first sketch to the handover walk-round. A Boscastle brief starts on the street, not the screen — Boscastle is a National Trust harbour village on the north coast — famously rebuilt after the 2004 flood — with a tightly controlled Conservation Area and AONB across its dramatic valley setting, with a building stock that leans toward Victorian terraces above the valley and modern carefully detailed coastal homes.
Boscastle sits in North Cornwall — just off the A39; covering PL35 from Tintagel outward.
- Conservation Area
- Cornwall AONB
- Coastal exposure zone
- Rural / open-countryside policy area
- ✓Same team on paper as on site
- ✓Fixed-fee planning packages, no surprise invoices
- ✓Measured-survey accuracy from day one
- ✓One studio — design, planning and build under one roof
Free · No obligation
Free Boscastle feasibility call
Tell us about your new build. We reply within 1 working day — no obligation.
Our process
How a Boscastle new build project runs.
Step 1
Plot review
Site visit, planning history check, designation review and an honest feasibility verdict.
Step 2
Concept design
Sketches that test the plot in massing, orientation and approach before any drawings are committed.
Step 3
Planning
Pre-app, full planning, consultee management and condition discharge.
Step 4
Technical design and build prep
Building regs, structural design, services strategy and contractor procurement.
Step 5
Construction and handover
Build delivered under contract administration with regular client reviews.
Most bespoke new builds run eighteen to thirty months from instruction to keys, depending on site, planning route and build complexity.
Local proof — Recent new build enquiries from Boscastle have clustered around Victorian terraces above the valley — we know the route through Cornwall Council on these.
Get a free feasibility viewScope
The parts of the job we can take on in Boscastle
These stages can be bought separately. Most PL35 projects use three of them.
Planning application drawings
Existing and proposed plans, elevations, site and block plans drawn to validation standard.
Measured survey
An accurate record of what is actually there, which is where most avoidable cost is removed.
Heritage and design statements
Written justification where designation makes the design case as important as the drawing.
Structural coordination
Calculations coordinated with the drawings so building control sees one consistent story.
Full design and build
One contract from first sketch to handover, with the same team on paper and on site.
Who this is for
What we can genuinely back up in Boscastle
- Design and build are offered from the same studio, which means the person answering your Boscastle questions has seen the detail built.
- Drawings, planning and building regulations are all produced in-house, so a new build enquiry does not get passed between firms.
- Designated-area work is routine here, so heritage and landscape statements are produced alongside the drawings rather than outsourced.
Planning rules change and every site is different. For the final position on your address, check with Cornwall Council as the local planning authority or the Planning Portal.
Keep reading
Other work we do around Boscastle
Boscastle works as a hub for us: the same new build team covers Crackington Haven and the surrounding PL35 villages, so a site visit here often takes in more than one address.
Page purpose
Drawings only, or drawings through to handover in Boscastle?
Both routes are open on a PL35 project, and the honest answer depends on whether you already have a builder you trust. Plenty of Boscastle clients take the drawings, tender them locally, then come back to us for the build if the numbers do not stack up.
- Route one: feasibility, planning and a tender-ready technical pack
- Route two: the same pack, then the build under one contract
- Either way the survey and feasibility work is identical, so the decision can wait
- Fees quoted per stage against the PL35 scope, not as one opaque figure
Quick check
Want a straight answer on whether your Boscastle project is worth pursuing?
Send a few details — we'll come back within 1 working day with a plain-English view on planning risk, likely cost band and whether it's a project we'd take on.
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Get a free feasibility view
For projects in Boscastle and the PL35 area.
What we focus on
New Builds considerations specific to Boscastle.
01
AONB and Heritage Coast designations apply to large stretches of the county; isolated new builds outside settlement boundaries face a much higher policy bar.
02
Off-grid services — package treatment plants, borehole supply, off-mains gas — are common on rural Cornish plots and need designing, not assuming.
03
Replacement dwellings have specific volumetric tests — getting the ratio between existing footprint and proposed floor area right is the difference between approval and refusal.
Local context
Why Boscastle is its own job.
Conservation Area, AONB and a Flood Zone 3 designation across much of the harbour valley. Post-flood reconstruction set high design and material standards that continue to apply. For new build specifically, parts of Boscastle sit within a designated Conservation Area, which means materials, fenestration and roof pitches all need to read sympathetically with the existing streetscape; the surrounding landscape falls inside the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, so massing, height and landscape impact carry extra weight in any planning decision; coastal salt-laden air around Boscastle drives detailing choices — fixings, render systems and timber treatments all need to be specified for exposure; Cornwall Council's Local Plan applies tighter tests to isolated rural dwellings here, so design rationale and policy fit need to be set out clearly from the outset. So every Boscastle job runs as a PL35-specific piece of work — local policy, local fabric, local builders. Most of our new build work in Boscastle lands on Victorian terraces above the valley, with detailing that has to nod to the wider Mawgan Porth streetscape.
Planning note
Cornwall's planning policy on new dwellings is among the most restrictive in England outside Greater London. The first conversation should be a planning conversation, not a design one.
Local watch-list
Local snags worth knowing before drawing a Boscastle new build.
Watch #1
Conservation Area controls on materials, window proportions and roof form through central Boscastle
Watch #2
AONB landscape-impact testing on anything read in long views across North Cornwall
Watch #3
Exposure detailing on slate harbourside cottages — fixings, render systems and joinery specified for salt-laden air
Watch #4
Local Plan tests on isolated dwellings, plus lane access for plant and deliveries around Boscastle
Boscastle is the hub for these neighbourhoods
We run new builds across Boscastle and the surrounding PL35 neighbourhoods — same studio, same site team.
Local fabric
Boscastle new builds — the local-studio difference.
Building stock
Across Boscastle (PL35) we work on slate harbourside cottages, Victorian terraces above the valley, post-2004 replacement dwellings, modern carefully detailed coastal homes. Each stock type drives a different new build response — Victorian terraces above the valley in particular needs careful detailing here.
Parish & policy
Boscastle is its own town in North Cornwall, with planning history that's specific to the PL35 catchment.
Coverage
We cover PL35 from our studio, with regular new build jobs also running in Tintagel, Mawgan Porth. Most Boscastle site visits get booked within the same week.
Do you work in Boscastle regularly?
Yes — Boscastle and the wider PL35 catchment are core territory. We're typically on a North Cornwall site at least once a week, so logistics are baked in, not bolted on.
Request a free visitWho this is for
In Boscastle the new build brief is almost always a private homeowner improving a forever home — so we lead with feasibility and long-term value, not show-home rhetoric.
FAQs
Boscastle New Builds — local questions answered.
- What about utilities, drainage and access?
- All designed and applied for as part of the package — water, electric, off-mains drainage where mains isn't viable, and highways access agreement with Cornwall Council where required. In Boscastle specifically, we'd start by checking the Conservation Area boundary before committing to a direction.
- What's a replacement dwelling and is mine eligible?
- If a habitable dwelling exists on the plot, you can often replace it — within volumetric and design constraints set by Cornwall's Local Plan. Derelict structures sometimes qualify, sometimes don't, depending on lawful use history.
- How long does the whole project take?
- Allow six to twelve months for design and approvals, then ten to fourteen months on site for a typical four-bedroom new build. Complex sites or long planning routes extend that.
- Can you handle a self-build for me?
- Yes — from feasibility to handover. Many of our clients start as 'self-builders' on paper, then hand the actual build to us once they realise how much project management it takes.
- How much does a new build cost?
- Realistic budgets in Cornwall start around £2,800 per square metre for a good-quality build and rise quickly with bespoke joinery, large glazing, complex sites and high-spec finishes. We work to your number, not against it.
- We live in the house. Can a new build in Boscastle be done while we stay put?
- Usually yes for single-storey and rear work, with a temporary kitchen or bathroom arrangement agreed before the start. Whole-house remodels and roof work in Boscastle are often easier if you move out for a few weeks. We set that expectation at feasibility stage rather than halfway through.
Other services in Boscastle
Nearby places we cover
Local neighbourhoods in Boscastle
From initial feasibility to final handover, we manage new build projects across Boscastle with careful attention to what makes North Cornwall unique. Applications are dealt with through Cornwall Council, with Bodmin the office we deal with most for PL35.
Get an honest PL35 feasibility view first Most Boscastle visits happen within the week.
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