THINGS YOU MUST KNOW ABOUT LISTED BUILDINGS

Listed buildings are structures that have a special historic, cultural, or architectural interest therefore are protected. When a building is listed it is added to the national heritage list for England which is the website that you can use to check if a building is listed. Most buildings that are listed are at least 30 years old therefore, most surviving structures built before 1700 tend to be listed.  In the UK, it is estimated to be around 500,000. Have a look at this website to find out if there are any near you. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/.

Grade 1 type buildings are the ones that have the most importance and cultural/architectural significance. Therefore, only 2.5 % of all listed buildings are listed with this type. Examples of buildings that are Grade 1 listed are Buckingham palace, the houses of parliament.  A Grade 2 listed building is the most common type and means that the buildings are particularly important. Lastly, the last type of building grade is a Grade 2* which means the building has a special interest. The most common type of listed building is a grade 2 building which makes up 92% of the UK listed buildings. This is due to a lot of residential homes falling into this category.

Listed buildings have extra control over them which makes it harder to make changes to the interior and exterior. Therefore, any changes you want to make that effect its appearance, structure, or historic design you would need to apply for listed building consent and wait for its approval before starting any work. Doing work on a listed building without consent can lead to a lot of legal trouble and is classed as a criminal offence. 

There are a lot of extra costs that also go into owning a listed building such as. If you intend to carry out any work on the structure and ask for permission and its granted you will have to pay a listed content fee. As well listed building insurance is also needed which will help cover and work that may be needed doing on the buildings.

If you own a listed building and want to make any changes to the property. Here is a list of situations when you will need to ask for permission. 

• Building repairs that affect the character of the building. (if repairs are made with look-alike material consent is not needed) 
• Interior alterations eg change layout, demolishing features, exposing timber or brickwork, installing double glazing. 
• Extensions  

If you are a homeowner of a listed building you can also look into grants. As they tend to be some available for repairs and maintenance of these buildings.