Changing the face of new country house architecture from a pastiche of historic styles to innovative cutting-edge design is essential if the best of British architecture is to be encouraged, said Planning Minister Keith Hill.

His comments follow the publication of the revised Planning Policy Statement 7 (PPS7) for rural areas of England - replacing the existing guidance with a forward looking policy exception for new houses in the countryside that reflect the highest standards of contemporary architecture.

Keith Hill said: "We want to encourage the best British architects to design country houses that our future generations will be proud of - creating buildings that people will want to visit in a 100 years time."

"I want this new policy exception to underline our commitment to encouraging the highest standards of contemporary design and construction in new country houses."

"Not only do we hope that cutting-edge designs for country houses will raise the standards of rural housing more widely, we also expect them to leave a legacy from today's top architects for the history books of the future."

Exclusive opportunity "regrettable"

But the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) said the government was "in two minds over countryside protection" and has given confusing signals over whether or not it really wishes to protect the countryside in its flagship planning policy statement on the countryside.

Tom Oliver, CPRE's head of rural policy said: "The retention of a special, exclusive opportunity for the construction of a few houses in open countryside on the flimsy basis that their design is 'truly outstanding and ground-breaking' is regrettable."

"The arguments that this is necessary to encourage good design to be more widely applied are spurious. This is a paragraph for the privileged which is likely to fragment yet more of our precious countryside."