Frequently asked
Listed buildings, heritage statements and conservation areas — the common questions.
Brief answers to the queries that come in most often. If your situation isn’t covered here, get in touch.
- What does a heritage consultant do?
- A heritage consultant helps owners, architects and developers navigate the planning system when works affect listed buildings, conservation areas or other designated heritage assets. That usually means preparing the written reports a local planning authority needs — Heritage Impact Assessments, Statements of Significance, Building Recording — and advising on what alterations are likely to be acceptable before an application is made.
- What is a Heritage Impact Assessment?
- A Heritage Impact Assessment (sometimes still called a Heritage Statement) is a written report submitted with a planning or listed building consent application. It identifies the significance of the heritage asset, describes the proposed works, and assesses their impact on that significance in line with the NPPF and adopted local policy. Most local planning authorities require one for works affecting listed buildings, conservation areas or the settings of designated heritage assets.
- Do I need listed building consent?
- If a building is listed, listed building consent is generally required for any works of demolition, alteration or extension that would affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest — internally as well as externally. Like-for-like repairs usually do not need consent, but the distinction can be subtle. A short pre-application conversation is usually the safest first step.
- Can I alter a listed building?
- Yes — listing does not freeze a building in time. Sensitive, well-justified alteration is regularly approved, especially where it secures the long-term future of the building. The role of a Heritage Statement or Heritage Impact Assessment is to demonstrate to the local planning authority that the proposal has been informed by an understanding of significance and that any harm is justified or outweighed by public benefit.
- How much does a Heritage Statement cost?
- Costs vary with the scale and sensitivity of the building, the complexity of the proposal, and the depth of archival research required. A short pre-purchase appraisal sits at one end of the scale; a full planning-stage Heritage Statement for a Grade II* listed building at the other. Please get in touch with a brief description of the building and the works and I will reply with a fixed-fee quote.
- We are in a conservation area — when do we need heritage input?
- Works to buildings inside a conservation area — including the demolition of unlisted buildings, certain extensions, dormer windows, and changes to boundary treatments — will often require planning permission, supported by a written assessment of how the proposals affect the character and appearance of the area. Conservation area planning advice at the design stage usually saves cost and time later.
- I am thinking of buying a listed building — what advice is available?
- Before exchange of contracts it is prudent to understand the heritage constraints attached to a listed building or a property in a conservation area. A pre-purchase report sets out the designations, the significance, the planning history and the likely appetite of the local planning authority for the changes you have in mind — so that any offer reflects what is realistically deliverable.
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