The ‘List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historical Interest’ is a national register, drawn up by the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), on the advice of
English Heritage. It comprises a wide variety of buildings and structures of special architectural and/or historic interest. There are currently over 1800 Listed Buildings in the Borough of Basingstoke and Deane. These vary from churches, farmsteads, (barns and granaries etc) cottages and houses, to bridges, telephone kiosks, a lamp post and even a dog kennel.
Why are buildings listed?
Under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has a statutory duty to list buildings of special architectural or historic interest.
This is carried out in order to identify the best of our built heritage so that we can protect and conserve it, both for ourselves and for future generations.
Is my building listed?
If your building is listed you will normally know, through the local searches carried out when buying most buildings (listed status is registered as a land charge), or through receiving a notice of listing from the Council at the time of listing.
The Heritage Gateway, operated by English Heritage, now provides a full search facility online which lists every listed building in the country and can be searched by following the link below.
This database should normally reveal whether a building is listed or not. However it should be noted that many listings were done several years ago, and that building name changes, parish boundary changes and other factors can lead to difficulties with searching. If you are in any doubt about the status of a building, or want to know for sure that a building is or is not listed, please call the Conservation Officers at the Borough Council who will be pleased to check further systems.
Copies of list entries can be provided by the Conservation Officers by email, post or fax, free of charge, for up to a maximum of 10 entries.
The lists are also available for inspection at the Civic Offices, London Road, Basingstoke between 8.30am and 5.00pm Monday to Thursday and 8.30am to 4.30pm on Friday.
Buying a listed building
If you are considering buying a listed building, it is vital that you satisfy yourself with whether the building, in its current form, can provide you with the amount and standards of accommodation that you require now and in the foreseeable future. It must be understood that there are special controls and considerations that need to be accommodated when owning a listed building which may not be acceptable to some people. Typical issues which need to be considered include:
- Consent for works such as an extension or other fundamental alterations can not be guaranteed until the actual consent has been granted.
- Small room sizes, low ceiling / door heights and the overall form of the house are often considered to be key elements of a building's special interest, and so alterations which could compromise this may prove unacceptable.
- The cost of works to an historic building are comparatively higher than for more modern buildings due to the need for specialist skills and materials and often due to the additional time it can take to plan and carry out the work.
- Historic buildings are often draughty although this can often be reduced by sensitive draught-stripping of historic windows and doors.
- Historic buildings were often built without a damp-proof course, and it is rarely acceptable to install one now. Most damp problems can however be reduced by sensitive land-drainage and ventilation without the need for more major works.
The Conservation Officers are happy to advise potential buyers of listed buildings about possible alterations or extensions as far as we are able, if sufficient time and information is given to allow us to adequately consider your ideas. It is rare however that we can visit a site with a potential buyer due to the number of people that could be interested in the same site.
In addition to the information given on this website, potential buyers are urged to also look at the following websites of general and specific interest, and to carry out their own internet and other research before committing themselves to a purchase.
www.spab.org.uk
www.victorian-society.org.uk
www.periodproperty.com
www.buildingconservation.com
www.thatched-group.com
www.listedpropertyownersclub.co.uk
All pre-application discussions are confidential and are given in the understanding that further information or more detailed consideration may change the view that is given.
How are buildings listed?
A programme of national surveys has been undertaken by appointed professional Inspectors from English Heritage. The Basingstoke and Deane Borough area was resurveyed between 1982 and 1983 and the lists were published during 1984 - the majority of the Borough's listed buildings were first listed at that time.
Sometimes it is necessary for buildings that were overlooked at the survey stage to be added to the list at a later date. This is normally done as a result of a nomination being submitted to English Heritage for what is known as ‘spot listing’ of an individual building.
Further information on how to nominate a building for spot listing is given on the English Heritage and DCMS websites.
If a building is under imminent threat however the Borough Council can serve a Building Preservation Notice, which has the effect of temporarily listing a building for 6 months. During this time English Heritage and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport must consider whether the property should be permanently listed.
English Heritage has recently updated the criteria for listing, including publishing a range of selection guides which they now use to assist in determining whether new buildings should be listed or not. Full details of these criteria are given on their website.
The list is a register. It simply identifies buildings that are of special interest, by giving a brief description of the building and its grade of listing.
Listed buildings are classified in grades to show their relative importance. However it does not mean that a ‘Grade I’ building is more worthy of preservation than a ‘Grade II’ building. All listed buildings are of national importance and have the same level of protection.
Grade I - These are buildings of exceptional interest or rarity. Only 2% of the buildings listed fall into this grade, with only 33 in the Borough of Basingstoke and Deane.
Grade II* - These are outstanding buildings and there are 62 in the Borough.
Grade II - These buildings are of special interest, which warrant every effort being made to preserve them. They form the vast majority (around 94%) of listed buildings both nationally and within the Borough.
The effects of listing
A listed building may not be demolished, extended or altered, internally or externally, in any way which, in the opinion of the Local Planning Authority, will affect its character or appearance as a building of special architectural or historic interest, without the prior consent of the Local Planning Authority.
Owners, occupiers and their agents and builders should note that it is actually a criminal offence, liable to prosecution, to carry out such work without consent. The penalty for this can be high, either in the form of an unlimited fine, or even imprisonment. If an offence is committed, the Local Planning Authority may prosecute and/or serve a Listed Building Enforcement Notice on the owner to restore the building to its former state.
‘Listed Building Consent’ is obtained by a formal application to the Borough Council and will be examined by trained conservation staff. The ‘Listed Building Consent’ is in addition to any need for ‘Planning Permission’ and ‘Building Regulation Approval’.
The fact that a building is listed does not necessarily mean that it must remain unaltered for all time, but there is a presumption in favour of preserving the integrity of all listed buildings.
It is sometimes wrongly assumed that the listing only applies to the exterior or the front elevation of a building. The listing actually applies to the building in its entirety, including its interior structure and fixtures and, in certain special instances, the fittings.
The description in the list is intended primarily for identification purposes only. It does not provide a comprehensive record of all the building’s attributes or features of importance. Therefore, if a feature is not mentioned, it does not mean that it is not protected by the listing.
The listing also covers any object or structure fixed to the building (such as a piece of sculpture or a new extension) or any detached structure within the curtilage (grounds) of the Listed Building if it was erected before 1 July 1948.
‘Listed Building Consent’ is sometimes required for work even when planning permission is not. The following list gives some examples of when listed building consent is required. However it is not exhaustive and if in any doubt you should contact the Conservation Team.
- Altering or replacing any of the windows and doors, including double-glazing and roof lights. The use of aluminium or plastic (often referred to as uPVC) is unacceptable
- Rendering or painting exterior walls (where not previously painted)
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Some re-pointing
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Replacing natural materials with concrete, imitation stone, resins, fibre or plastic
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Removing, rendering or changing roof materials, for example replacing clay tiles or slates with concrete, or long straw thatch with combed wheat reed thatch
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Fixing or removing bargeboards or external window shutters; changing or demolishing chimneystacks or pots or replacing cast iron gutters with plastic
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Installing solar panels or satellite antenna
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Fixing advertisement signs or shop front sun blinds
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Altering or removing interior features of interest such as doors, fireplace surrounds, over mantles, cornices, panelling and ironmongery
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“Gutting” a building and removing lath and plaster ceilings and horse hair plaster or wattle and daub panels
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All works of alteration e.g. creating new door and window openings internally as well as externally.
The Borough Council’s Conservation Officers will be pleased to advise you on the need to obtain Listed Building Consent, the suitability of any proposed work and also on specific repair techniques and materials.
Before undertaking any works of repair or alteration to a Listed Building make sure your contractor or builder is made aware that the building is listed and is given a copy of any Listed Building Consent application and plans or conditions, together with any specifications and grant conditions which the Conservation Officers have stipulated.
Special considerations
Alterations and repairs to historic buildings require special design skills, knowledge of historic building techniques and the use of sympathetic materials. In view of this the appointment of a suitable qualified historic building specialist is strongly advised. The Conservation Officers of the Borough Council are also available for advice and information on all matters relating to historic buildings.
There is a danger that a building can be over-restored to the point that it then retains very little of its original fabric. This can actually diminish its value. The repair of the old is almost always preferable to the introduction of new work, even if this is a more expensive option, because historic fabric is irreplaceable and therefore, invaluable.
Grants
The Borough Council sets aside a special budget to award discretionary repair grants to owners of Listed Buildings on the Council's Buildings at Risk Register. Further guidance, along with downloadable guidance notes and application forms can be found by visiting the Historic Building Repair Grants page of this website.
Further information and guidance
This webpage is designed to answer only general queries. Further guidance and advice is available from the documents and leaflets that can be downloaded at the base of this page.
For more detailed guidance or to discuss a particular building, please contact one of the Borough's Conservation Officers, who will be happy to help. Site visits can be arranged in some circumstances.
Tel: (01256) 845414
Email: neighbourhood.dev@basingstoke.gov.uk
