It's Shabby Road! Ed Sheeran wins right to turn six run-down barns into 'music archive' as he transforms 19th-century piggery into state-of-the art recording complex
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Ed Sheeran has been given the green light to convert six run-down barns at his new 'Sheeranville' estate for a music archive and state-of-the art recording complex.
The singer bought a £1.1million Grade II-listed farm, about 400 years old, close to his current home, a 16-acre estate in Suffolk.
The 35-year-old has plans to turn this into a music complex and won permission from Mid-Suffolk District council to transform a 19th-century piggery and barn into studios.
Now he is being allowed to use six adjoining barns dating back from as early as 1870 as 'storage space'.
The scheme has evoked comparisons with EMI's famed Abbey Road studio in St John's Wood, north London, where The Beatles recorded most of their output and which gave its name to their acclaimed album released in 1969.
Documents reveal the reasons for Sheeran getting approval, saying: 'The proposed use of the outbuildings is storage/archive space for the owner/family only and there will be no additional vehicles, lighting, equipment installed.'
After taking pre-planning advice he dropped plans to link the barns to the main farmhouse.
But the musician has promised to repair all the buildings, insert new windows, doors, staircases and retain 'as much of the original fabric and form of the outbuildings as possible'.
Ed Sheeran, pictured performing at Madison Square Garden in New York on December 12, 2025, has won planning permission for his latest proposals at a property in Suffolk
The 35-year-old has plans to turn this into a music complex and won permission from Mid-Suffolk District council to transform a 19th-century piggery and barn into studios
It was added: 'As a result the rural character of the outbuildings will be retained and the impact on the wider landscape is considered to be low.'
In the planning officer's report, he commends Sheeran's bid, stating: 'Whilst the site occupies a countryside location, the proposal does not constitute new isolated development unrelated to its surroundings.
'Rather, it represents the sensitive restoration and continued ancillary use of an established group of buildings within an existing residential curtilage.'
Ecologists have backed Sheeran's move with there being a low possibility of flooding while giving a 'positive impact' overall to the historic farm.
The application stated: 'The main ethos of the proposed development is to reinstate the outbuildings in their original form – this will be achieved by restoring the partially deteriorated/collapsed elements to the form, scale and design of the original buildings.'
After being given the go-ahead to turn the other outbuildings into music studios, renovation work has been slow as builders are having to use hand tools.
They have also had to take special measures due to the presence of protected Great Crested Newts, also needing a licence.
Sheeran has also promised to create a 'species rich, flowering lawn' with 19 different species of flowers.
Pictured is Ed Sheeran's home and estate in Suffolk which has been called 'Sheeranville'
The singer lives with wife Cherry Seaborn, 34, and the couple's two daughters
He also intends to plant 12 fruit trees, two bat boxes and a triple-house sparrow tower.
Sheeran has built up a significant property empire as well as adding to his chart success that currently includes nine UK chart-topping albums and 14 UK number one singles.
As well as 'Sheeranville' and his music complex, he owns a £20million Notting Hill mansion in west London and an £8.25million office building in Soho.
He has at least 22 properties across London's most sought-after areas including Covent Garden, Battersea, Kensington, Chiswick and Whitechapel – as well as a villa in Italy, which comes with its own vineyard.
He and his wife Cherry Seaborn married in 2019 and have two daughters.
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