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Friday 2 March 2012

Buying a Listed Building

By Eileen Dillon


A listed building is a property on the 'statutory list of buildings of special architectural or historic interest' and is protected from modifications that may affect the properties historic character.

Listed buildings are more often than not old buildings and can be more expensive that standard homes - using a house price calculator can give examples of growing values - and the responsibility of owning a listed building is to maintain and preserve the building for future generations. Planning permission will be needed before making any changes in the property to make sure you keeping to your duty and obligations as the owner.

What are the advantages?

Owning a listed property can be a really rewarding experience - you own a piece of history with a story to tell. It will be full of charm and charisma and completely unique in its structure - somewhat different to living in a modern new build! Whilst maintenance and repairs can be expensive, if the owner cannot afford to repair their listed building they may be entitled to a grant that is available for buildings of "outstanding architectural or historic interest", and can help with costs for repairs like re-roofing, treating rot or other structural repairs. However, by standing by the rules of owning a listed building you can enjoy the financial results, especially when you instruct an estate agent to come and "value my home" or indeed choose to use a house price calculator to see how much the property has gone up in value.

What are the disadvantages?

Listed buildings are old, and this is the main disadvantage of owning one. Old buildings are harder to maintain and repairs will need to be carried out by skilled professionals and you may even need specialist materials to keep to the characteristic of the building.

Another disadvantage is the fact that you are not free to alter the building as you like, but instead will need to seek listing buildings consent (LBC) for any structural changes like extensions and remodelling or renovation. Buildings that have not been maintained well may be in danger of receiving a "repairs notice", whereby the owner will need to conduct necessary repairs and preservation in a set time frame. Similarly, any listed building that has had unauthorised modifications can be made to rectify the change - in this case you will end up undoing what you have done, costing you double! So, it is clear that you should keep to the rule book when owning a listed building - after all, it is your responsibility to preserve a little bit of our ever changing history for our younger generations!




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