Three new houses could be built in the currently “unkempt” grounds of a large house in a Herefordshire village.

The five-bedroom Bank House lies within the conservation area of Sutton St Nicholas, five miles north of Hereford.

The newly submitted plan proposes converting a redundant adjacent barn to a three-bedroom home and also building two new bungalows, as well as renovating Bank House itself and giving it a new detached garage.

The bungalows, one three-bedroom and one two-bedroom, would be “agricultural in form and appearance” with oak frames, and would make the overall development viable, the application says.

With gas boilers in new-builds being phased out next year, the new properties will have air source heat pumps, “to provide low-grade heat and hot water to underfloor heating systems”, it says, adding that waste water would be treated on-site.

The grounds previously included an orchard, but the outdoor area is currently “overgrown, unkempt and unmanaged” and covered with self-seeded trees.

However two yew trees, one thought to be 600 years old, and two apple trees from the original orchard would be retained, and added to with new apple and pear trees.

A new road entrance would also be created onto Ridgeway Road to access Bank House, with the current Orchard Close entrance serving the converted barn. A further entrance along Orchard Close would serve the two bungalows.

Previous pre-application advice indicated that the council would support “sympathetic” refurbishment of Bank House and conversion of the barn, according to the application.

Thought to date from the late 18th or early 19th century, though unlisted, Bank House changed hands last April for £480,000.