About

Rural Value Partners was established to focus specifically on the commercial and planning side of rural development — bringing a combination of architectural expertise and planning intelligence to bear on sites and opportunities across North Yorkshire, with the aim of unlocking and maximising the value available through the planning system, whether for sale, development, or long-term return.

The practice is led by Tom Brooksbank, an architect with extensive experience working on rural projects throughout England. Holding a business qualification from Harvard Business School alongside his architectural training, Tom brings both design judgement and commercial awareness to every instruction. He is registered with the ARB and is a member of the RIBA.

RVP has secured planning approvals across multiple English authorities, from North Yorkshire Council to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and South Oxfordshire. Experience with rural applications stretches back over twenty years, covering the full range of project types — from barn conversions, permitted development, and listed building consent through to Paragraph 84, one of the most demanding planning and design processes in the English system. A network of specialist consultants, including planners, surveyors, and heritage specialists, is available to support each project as required.

North Yorkshire is home ground. The practice has long-standing relationships with estates, landowners, land agents, and local developers across the region, and a detailed understanding of its planning constraints and opportunities — from the Howardian Hills AONB and Yorkshire Wolds National Landscape to Helmsley and Hovingham conservation areas and the North York Moors National Park. Many of our clients return with new sites and new challenges.