South Cornwall · PL22
Bespoke New Builds in St Winnow
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 St Winnow on the ground is half of the new build job — St Winnow is a rural parish in the PL22 area, with farmsteads, lanes and scattered homes defining its built character, with a building stock that leans toward converted barns and smallholdings.
St Winnow sits in South Cornwall — covering PL22 from Lostwithiel, Lerryn, Lanlivery outward.
- 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
Local watch-list
The PL22 constraints that shape a new build brief.
Watch #1
Tighter Local Plan tests on isolated rural dwellings
Who this is for
St Winnow 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 St Winnow is its own job.
Open-countryside policy, access lanes, drainage and agricultural building history all need to be addressed before drawings go too far. 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 St Winnow job runs as a PL22-specific piece of work — local policy, local fabric, local builders. Most of our new build work in St Winnow lands on converted barns, with detailing that has to nod to the wider Lerryn 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 St Winnow.
01
Replacement dwellings have specific volumetric tests — getting the ratio between existing footprint and proposed floor area right is the difference between approval and refusal.
02
Self-build CIL exemption requires the right documentation in the right order; missing a step costs five-figure sums.
03
AONB and Heritage Coast designations apply to large stretches of the county; isolated new builds outside settlement boundaries face a much higher policy bar.
04
Off-grid services — package treatment plants, borehole supply, off-mains gas — are common on rural Cornish plots and need designing, not assuming.
Our process
How a St Winnow 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
St Winnow 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 St Winnow specifically, we'd start by checking the latest parish-level planning history before committing to a direction.
- 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.
- 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'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.
St Winnow is part of Lostwithiel
St Winnow sits inside the Lostwithiel catchment — we cover both as one new build territory.
See New Builds in Lostwithiel →Local proof — We typically have one or two new build jobs live in the PL22 area at any time, so the local planning officers know our drawings on sight.
Get a free feasibility viewOther services in St Winnow
Nearby places we cover
On a St Winnow site the success of a new build is decided in week one — by reading the constraints right, not by drawing them away.