Living in England we are incredibly lucky to have beautiful, historic buildings right on our doorstep, but what do you need to consider if you have found one you love and are contemplating making it your new home? 

Wollens Paralegal Daisy Otton writes this helpful guide. 

Listed Buildings are classed as being of special architectural or historic interest and you are most likely to come across a Grade II Building, 91.7% of all Listed Buildings fall within this class (with the remainder being Grade I (2.5%) or Grade II* (5.8%)).

Your first port of call when considering buying a Listed Building is the Historic England website Historic England – Championing England’s heritage | Historic England where you can find a vast amount of information about Listings generally, as well as specific information about the property itself. The Listing for the property will provide helpful information including the date the property was first Listed and the features that are being protected, which you will need to consider when undertaking any work to the property in the future.

Before you start the process of buying a Listed Building you should consider putting in hand a full, specialist survey. Listed Buildings tend by nature to be older properties (most buildings built pre 1850 are Listed)and can therefore suffer from damp and structural movement amongst other defects. A surveyor with experience of Listed Buildings can advise you on what is normal, what might require extensive remedial work and what consents you might need to obtain. It is also wise to ascertain as early as possible what, if any, works have been undertaken to the property since the Listing, you can then make sure this accords with the information set out on the Historic England website. If it doesn’t, then this is something we can investigate for you as part of the conveyancing process. It may be that we can remedy the issue via a Listed Building Indemnity Insurance Policy or we might need to ask the owner to obtain retrospective consent from the Local Authority, either way we can work together to find a solution which means that you purchase the property without having to worry about being liable for any previous mistakes.

When buying a Listed Building you might have some exciting plans to update and/or refresh the property once you have moved in. Some people might think that Listed Buildings have to remain unaltered but this is not always the case, you just have to make sure you get the right consents!  Your stop should be the planning department of your Local Authority who will be able to provide you with advice as to what works you can do, what you can’t and how to go about applying for Listed Building Consent. It is a criminal offence to undertake work to a listed building without having the right consents in place, so it really pays to do your research as soon as possible and get to know your Listing inside and out.

How we can help

Buying a Listed Building can be a complicated process and there is a lot to consider in the property’s past, present and future, but the Wollens Residential Property Team is here to help.   

Speak to Daisy Otton

Daisy is a Property Law Executive at Wollens and can advise you. Contact Daisy via email daisy.otton@wollens.co.uk or call 01392 274006.

You can also complete an online enquiry form. One of the Wollens team will contact you as soon as they are available.