Couple plan to demolish house and replace with eco-friendly house

A Herefordshire couple have put forward a plan to demolish their rural home and replace it with an modern energy-efficient alternative.

Mr & Mrs R and N Lilley, of The Chestnuts, Checkley, east of Hereford, have applied for permission for a two-storey, four-bedroom home, along with separate plant room and carport, in place of the current five-bedroom “modest Victorian” building, also of two storeys.

Work had already be carried out to refurbish the house, following a previous permission in 2018, subsequently varied, and it is now “partly demolished”, their application says.

But the couple have since decided “due to climate change and the present energy crisis to pursue a full replacement dwelling, to ensure the fabric of the entire structure is built to a very high energy performance standard”, and that completely replacing it would be “more viable financially”.

The proposed replacement design would “correct defects in the original building”, improving the views and harnessing sunlight, while maintaining its L-shape profile.

With “highly insulated timber frame technology and supreme air leakage performance”, the new house “would meet the challenges of the current energy crisis and climate change”.

A flat roof would “create a contemporary appearance and maintain a lower profile within the setting”, and together with the plant room and carport would “create an enclosed courtyard and arrival area”, the application says.

Comments on the application, numbered 223446, can be made until December 22.