North Cornwall · EX23
Bespoke New Builds in Kilkhampton
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 Kilkhampton brief starts on the street, not the screen — Kilkhampton is a market village in the EX23 area, acting as a local service centre for surrounding farms and hamlets, with a building stock that leans toward detached houses and stone cottages.
Kilkhampton sits in North Cornwall — covering EX23 from Bude, Stratton, Poughill outward.
- Rural / open-countryside policy area
- ✓ One studio — design, planning and build under one roof
- ✓ Local to North Cornwall — not a national franchise
- ✓ Same team on paper as on site
- ✓ Fixed-fee planning packages, no surprise invoices
Local watch-list
The EX23 constraints that shape a new build brief.
Watch #1
Tighter Local Plan tests on isolated rural dwellings
Who this is for
Kilkhampton runs the full mix — owner-occupier, holiday-let, commercial and the occasional smallholding — so we scope every new build enquiry from the use-class up.
Local context
Why Kilkhampton is its own job.
Town-centre heritage, parking, shopfront character and edge-of-settlement growth all need to be balanced in applications. For new build specifically, 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 Kilkhampton job runs as a EX23-specific piece of work — local policy, local fabric, local builders. Most of our new build work in Kilkhampton lands on detached houses, with detailing that has to nod to the wider Stratton 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.
What we focus on
New Builds considerations specific to Kilkhampton.
01
Self-build CIL exemption requires the right documentation in the right order; missing a step costs five-figure sums.
02
Cornwall's housing policy increasingly favours principal residence and replacement dwelling schemes over open-market new builds in some parishes.
03
Off-grid services — package treatment plants, borehole supply, off-mains gas — are common on rural Cornish plots and need designing, not assuming.
04
Replacement dwellings have specific volumetric tests — getting the ratio between existing footprint and proposed floor area right is the difference between approval and refusal.
Our process
How a Kilkhampton 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.
FAQs
Kilkhampton New Builds — local questions answered.
- 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. In Kilkhampton specifically, we'd start by checking the latest parish-level planning history before committing to a direction.
- 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.
- 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.
Kilkhampton is part of Bude
Kilkhampton sits inside the Bude catchment — we cover both as one new build territory.
See New Builds in Bude →Local proof — We typically have one or two new build jobs live in the EX23 area at any time, so the local planning officers know our drawings on sight.
Get a free feasibility viewOther services in Kilkhampton
Nearby places we cover
For Kilkhampton homeowners weighing up a new build, the right starting point is honest feasibility — that's what we lead with, before any drawings.