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Two barns at Hall Farm, Kenilworth Road will be made into five homes while eight new houses will be provided.
Plans for eight homes were refused by Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council in 2001 and two plans for 12 homes were rejected that year and in 2003.
A 2005 appeal said the 2003 development was too remote from local services. No buses currently run past the site.
But councillors approved the latest plan – in the Green Belt, below - on Wednesday night.
A planning officer’s report said the scheme is in a “unsustainable” location but “represents a marked improvement” in its appearance.
Permission was given in 2009 for the site to be used as offices but the report said it had been difficult to find firms to take it.
Also, the controversial new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) – the Government’s overhaul of planning laws – now backs the plan, it says.
It says: “The site is located within an unsustainable location.
“However due to the considerable improvements to the character, appearance and openness of the site that would be generated by the proposal, and the guidance in relation to such issues contained within the NPPF, on balance it is considered that the environmental benefits of the scheme justify the grant of permission for this unsustainable form of development in highway terms.”
Two letters from the public opposed the plan with concerns about its impact on the Green Belt and its rural location.
The Knowle Society said: “We cannot see how a three-quarters of a mile distance between them be overcome by any day-to-day use of anything other than a car.”
Under council policies, the development would have to make five of the new homes affordable.
But councillors were told affordable housing providers were unwilling to take on the site as it is too small.
It agreed developers Spitfire Properties should given the council £250,000 for affordable housing on another site
The council report said: “It is of no surprise, based on experiences of other recent similar schemes elsewhere in the area, that no housing associations expressed an interest in the site.”
The council’s planning committee approved the scheme last night.
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