Mid Cornwall · TR1
Bespoke New Builds in Truro
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. In Truro, that work is shaped by the place itself — Truro is Cornwall's only city, the county town and home to Cornwall Council itself, with a Georgian core, three-spired cathedral and Lemon Quay at its centre, with a building stock that leans toward Georgian townhouses on Lemon Street and Victorian terraces in Hendra and Highertown.
- Conservation Area
Local context
Why Truro is its own job.
The Truro Conservation Area covers a wide central zone including Lemon Street, the cathedral precinct and the river frontage. As the home of Cornwall Council planning, it tends to set the tone for design expectations across the county. For new build specifically, parts of Truro sit within a designated Conservation Area, which means materials, fenestration and roof pitches all need to read sympathetically with the existing streetscape. That's why we treat every Truro project as a TR1-area job first — not a generic Cornwall job with a postcode bolted on.
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 Truro.
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
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 Truro 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
Truro New Builds — common questions.
- 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 Truro 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 I build a new house on my plot in Cornwall?
- Sometimes yes, sometimes no — and the honest answer needs a planning policy review of the specific site. Settlement boundary, designations, access and policy on isolated dwellings all weigh in. We give a frank read at first consultation rather than a sales pitch.