Understanding A Building’s Listed Status
There are many beautiful historic buildings across the U.K., and owning one is a very realistic dream. When it comes to the process of buying a listed house, it’s largely indifferent to the process of buying a non-listed property.
Property is listed as grade i. grade ii, and grade ii* and where the status is applied, such properties are considered to be of special interest and historically significant. Each grade carries different rules around its protection and what can be done on a renovation level.
However, there are rules in place for those who own listed buildings and it’s important to be aware of them!
Owning a listed building comes with extra responsibilities across England and Wales. And, you won’t have the right to freely renovate or extend your property as you would with a new or more modern home.
Generally speaking, any building constructed before the 18th century is likely to be listed. Therefore before you begin searching for a home to buy it can be handy to do the following bits of research to clarify its status:
- Check the listed building register to see what listed grade the property carries;
- Thoroughly read property ads and talk to estate agents where you have queries;
- If the building isn’t advertised, check the local council’s planning records;
- Call The Listed Property Owners Club (LPOC) if you’re still unsure.
Considering The Additional Costs of Owning a Listed Property
The older a building is, the more maintenance it’ll require. Unsurprisingly, you could end up finding yourself spending quite a lot just to update the house in general.
Listed buildings are more prone to dampness and other issues that come as a result of the old fabric and construction methods used. This is an important consideration to keep in mind but not one that should sway you away from choosing to buy a listed home.
Instead, we advise budgeting for maintenance and repairs if the building hasn’t been recently updated and repaired by the previous owners. Before choosing a listed property to call home, it can be very helpful to gain insight into any work that has been done to the home to improve its condition.
Here are some of the questions we recommend asking the previous homeowner or estate agent:
- Has any previous work been carried out on the property before?
- Was all of the previous work officially consented to?
- If works have been carried out, what has been done specifically?
These are just some of the basic questions to give you a clearer idea of where you may need to inject funds into repairing or updating the property.
When you discover as much as possible about the historical property and its grounds, you’re in a better position to know how you’ll go about maintaining it.
Whether the property has listed status for its striking architecture or once belonged to an important figure, there’s history worth investigating even for the sake of understanding more about conservation.
