TECHNICAL BULLETIN
ISSUE 34 MARCH 2019
AN INTRODUCTION TO LISTED BUILDINGS WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW IAN BULLOCK, BSC (HONS) MRICS MEWI, CARPENTER SURVEYORS
When carrying out pre purchase surveys and valuations, the law of averages suggests you are likely to encounter historic buildings at some stage, some of which may well be listed. It’s important to consider what to look out for and what considerations are important when advising your client.
What is a listed building?
Tower Hill House is a Grade II* listed building built in 1630. An account from Dr J. Wells, who bought the property in 1920, describes how it was covered with a layer of ‘greyish stucco’ when he bought it and one winter it began to deteriorate and uncover two beams. Dr Wells then employed a bricklayer to strip the stucco revealing the black beams and plastered oak laths we see today. Renovations were required to restore some of the beams though, which had become rotten underneath the stucco.1
‘Listing’ is the term given to the practice of listing buildings, scheduling monuments, registering parks, gardens and battlefields, and protecting wreck sites. Listing allows us to highlight what is significant about a building or site and helps to make sure that any future changes to it do not result in the loss of its significance. A listing is not a preservation order preventing change. It does not freeze a building in time, it simply means that listed building consent must be applied for in order to make any changes to that building which might affect its special interest.
Is it listed?
Why are buildings listed?
To confirm if a building is listed, the first point of reference for any homeowner, legal advisor, agent or surveyor will be ‘The National Heritage List’ which is compiled and managed by English Heritage, a public body set up to help care for, enjoy and manage England’s historic environment.
Buildings are listed to help protect the physical evidence of our past, including buildings which are valued and protected as a central part of our cultural heritage and our sense of identity. Historic buildings also add to the quality of our lives, being an important aspect of the character and appearance of our towns, villages and countryside.
1 https://bromyardhistorysociety.org.uk/newsletter-one
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