North Cornwall · PL28 · Cornwall Council North
Bespoke New Builds in Padstow
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. Reading Padstow on the ground is half of the new build job — Padstow is a working fishing harbour on the Camel Estuary, AONB-designated, with one of the strongest period property markets in Cornwall and a tight Conservation Area covering the inner harbour, with a building stock that leans toward Georgian harbour terraces and modern coastal homes at Trevone and Trethillick.
Padstow sits in North Cornwall — just off the A389; with Truro the closest city; 5 miles from Wadebridge.
- Conservation Area
- Cornwall AONB
- Coastal exposure zone
- ✓Fixed-fee planning packages, no surprise invoices
- ✓Measured-survey accuracy from day one
- ✓One studio — design, planning and build under one roof
- ✓Local to North Cornwall — not a national franchise
Free · No obligation
Free Padstow feasibility call
Tell us about your new build. We reply within 1 working day — no obligation.
Our process
How a Padstow 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 — Most Padstow homeowners come to us after a new build quote elsewhere felt vague on planning — we lead with feasibility instead.
Get a free feasibility viewScope
The parts of the job we can take on in Padstow
Clients in Padstow take different slices of this list, and that is deliberate.
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 Padstow
- Design and build are offered from the same studio, which means the person answering your Padstow questions has seen the detail built.
- Commercial and mixed-use work in Padstow tends to sit around Padstow Harbour.
- Applications for Padstow are handled through Cornwall Council, with Bodmin the nearest planning office we deal with regularly.
- Sites we know on the ground here include the area around the harbour and Prideaux Place.
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 Padstow
Padstow works as a hub for us: the same new build team covers St Eval, Trevone, Harlyn and the surrounding PL28 villages, so a site visit here often takes in more than one address.
Page purpose
Drawings only, or drawings through to handover in Padstow?
Both routes are open on a PL28 project, and the honest answer depends on whether you already have a builder you trust. Plenty of Padstow 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 PL28 scope, not as one opaque figure
Quick check
Want a straight answer on whether your Padstow 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.
Free · No obligation
Get a free feasibility view
For projects in Padstow and the PL28 area.
What we focus on
New Builds considerations specific to Padstow.
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
Self-build CIL exemption requires the right documentation in the right order; missing a step costs five-figure sums.
04
Cornwall's housing policy increasingly favours principal residence and replacement dwelling schemes over open-market new builds in some parishes.
Local context
Why Padstow is its own job.
Conservation Area is extensive, with most of the historic core protected. Padstow's Neighbourhood Plan operates a strong principal residence policy; second homes and holiday lets face explicit policy resistance. For new build specifically, parts of Padstow 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 Padstow drives detailing choices — fixings, render systems and timber treatments all need to be specified for exposure. So every Padstow job runs as a PL28-specific piece of work — local policy, local fabric, local builders. Most of our new build work in Padstow lands on Georgian harbour terraces, with detailing that has to nod to the wider Wadebridge 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
What usually catches new build projects out in Padstow.
Watch #1
Cornwall AONB and Heritage Coast across the whole peninsula
Watch #2
Principal residence sentiment from the parish on new dwellings
Watch #3
Tight medieval lanes around the harbour limiting site logistics
Watch #4
Granite-and-slate vernacular controls on visible elevations
Padstow is the hub for these neighbourhoods
We run new builds across Padstow and the surrounding PL28 neighbourhoods — same studio, same site team.
- St Eval
PL27
- Trevone
PL28
- Harlyn
PL28
- St Merryn
PL28
- Constantine Bay
PL28
- Treyarnon
PL28
- Porthcothan
PL28
- Little Petherick
PL27
Local fabric
What sets a Padstow new build brief apart.
Building stock
Across Padstow (PL28) we work on medieval merchant houses, Georgian harbour terraces, Victorian villas above the village, modern coastal homes at Trevone and Trethillick. Each stock type drives a different new build response — Georgian harbour terraces in particular needs careful detailing here.
Parish & policy
Padstow is its own town in North Cornwall, with planning history that's specific to the PL28 catchment.
Coverage
We cover PL28 from our studio, with regular new build jobs also running in Wadebridge, Rock, Trevone. Most Padstow site visits get booked within the same week.
Do you work in Padstow regularly?
Yes — Padstow and the wider PL28 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 visitRecent work nearby
Recent harbour-adjacent townhouse refurb hid services in a new internal core and freed the principal rooms.
See more recent North Cornwall work →Who this is for
Padstow 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.
FAQs
Padstow New Builds — local questions answered.
- 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. In Padstow specifically, we'd start by checking the Conservation Area boundary before committing to a direction.
- Who do you usually work for in Padstow?
- A genuine mix: owner-occupiers, second-home and holiday-let owners, small commercial clients and the occasional smallholding. That matters because the right route for a new build depends on how the property is used, not just what it looks like, so we scope from the use first.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Other services in Padstow
Nearby places we cover
Local neighbourhoods in Padstow
For Padstow homeowners weighing up a new build, the right starting point is honest feasibility — that's what we lead with, before any drawings. Exposure detailing is a spec decision, not a finish decision, on this coast.
Walk us round your Padstow site — free first visit Most Padstow visits happen within the week.
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