Guide

My house is listed or in a conservation area — what can I actually do?

Most things, but almost nothing without asking first. Listing protects the building itself — inside, outside and often the garden structures too. A conservation area protects the character of the place, mainly what can be seen.

Two different things, and one is much stricter

Listing protects a particular building. Conservation area designation protects the character or appearance of a place.

If your house is listed, the protection is on the building itself. Almost any alteration affecting its character needs consent — including work nobody outside would ever see.

If your house is in a conservation area but is not listed, the controls are lighter and mostly concern what is visible from outside. GOV.UK puts it plainly: the requirement for planning permission for other works to unlisted buildings in a conservation area is the same as for any building outside one, "although some permitted development rights are more restricted."

Plenty of houses around Godstone, Bletchingley, Oxted and Lingfield are both listed and in a conservation area. Then both sets of rules apply at once.

What listing actually covers

This is where people get caught out.

The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 says a listed building includes "any object or structure fixed to the building", and "any object or structure within the curtilage of the building which, although not fixed to the building, forms part of the land and has done so since before 1st July 1948."

So the protection can reach the old stable, the garden wall, the well — anything standing in the grounds since before July 1948. It covers the interior as well as the exterior; the Planning Portal is explicit that listing takes in the inside of the building.

It also covers later additions. A Victorian rear extension on a Tudor cottage is part of the listed building, even though it is not the part anyone came to look at.

A list entry can specifically exclude an object, a structure, or a part of the building. Read your own entry rather than assuming.

When you need listed building consent

Section 7 of the Act is the test. No one may carry out demolition, alteration or extension of a listed building "in any manner which would affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest" without consent.

That is broader than most people expect. Taking out a partition, replacing windows, re-plastering in gypsum where lime was used, moving a staircase, fitting units against panelling, re-pointing in cement — all of it can affect character, and all of it can need consent.

Doing the work without consent is a criminal offence, not a planning technicality. Section 9 provides for up to six months' imprisonment on summary conviction, up to two years on indictment, and a fine, or both. Responsibility falls on whoever carries out the work as well as the owner — which is why any builder worth using will want the paperwork in place before the first tool comes out of the van.

One useful point: there is no fee for a listed building consent application.

Grade I, II* and II — what the grade does and does not change

The Planning Portal describes the three grades as exceptional interest (Grade I), great interest (Grade II*) and special interest (Grade II). Most listed houses in this part of Surrey are Grade II.

Here is the part that surprises people. The grade does not change whether you need consent. Section 7 draws no distinction by grade, so the same rule applies to a Grade II cottage in Bletchingley as to a Grade I building. Nor does the grade limit the protection to the outside — listing covers the interior at Grade II exactly as it does at Grade I.

What the grade does affect is how the council weighs harm when it decides your application. The higher the significance, the higher the bar for anything that would damage it.

What changes in a conservation area

In the permitted development rules a conservation area is "article 2(3) land", and several rights you would have elsewhere fall away. On a house in a conservation area:

You cannot extend beyond a wall forming a side elevation of the original house under permitted development.
A rear extension of more than a single storey is not permitted development. The larger single-storey rear extension route, the one that runs through prior approval, is not available either — the ordinary depth limits still apply.
You cannot clad the exterior "with stone, artificial stone, pebble dash, render, timber, plastic or tiles".
Roof additions are out. A dormer that would be permitted development on an ordinary street needs planning permission here.
An outbuilding cannot go on the land between a side wall of the house and the boundary.

Demolition is controlled separately. You will generally need planning permission for relevant demolition for a building of 115 cubic metres or more, and for gates, fences, walls and enclosures over the set heights. Demolishing without it is an offence under section 196D of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

Trees in a conservation area are protected too. You must give the council six weeks' written notice before felling, lopping, topping or uprooting, under section 211 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. The council either makes a Tree Preservation Order or lets the six weeks run out, after which you can go ahead — but only within two years of the notice.

Windows, cladding and Article 4 directions

Replacing windows with ones of similar appearance is often permitted development, even in a conservation area. But that is exactly the right councils take away.

An Article 4 direction withdraws permitted development rights, so a planning application is needed for work that would normally not require one. They are most common in conservation areas, and the local position varies council by council.

Reigate and Banstead states that Article 4 directions have been served on most conservation areas in the borough, controlling external changes to dwelling houses, and that planning permission is generally required for replacement windows and other external changes. Tandridge has 19 designated conservation areas — among them Bletchingley, Brewer Street and Place Farm, Godstone Church Town, Godstone The Green, Limpsfield Village, Lingfield, Oxted, Outwood and Woldingham Green.

Two houses a few miles apart can therefore get different answers to the same question. Check the direction that applies to your address, not the general rule.

If the house is listed, none of this helps anyway: listed building consent is needed for window work that affects character, whatever the permitted development position says.

Why like-for-like repair is the easiest route

The legal test for a listed building is whether the work affects its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. Genuine repair — same material, same profile, same detail, same method — often does not meet that test, which is why it tends to be the smoothest path through.

Re-pointing in lime where lime was used, replacing a rotten section of a window with matching timber and the same glazing bar profile, re-tiling with reclaimed tiles of the same type: this is repair, not alteration.

The same idea works in a conservation area. Matching what is already there rarely troubles anybody. Changing the material is what gets refused.

Two warnings. First, it is the council's judgement, not yours — "it's only a repair" is not a defence if they disagree. Second, swapping the material while keeping the appearance is not like-for-like: cement for lime, uPVC for timber, concrete tiles for clay. That is an alteration, and on a listed building it is the most common reason enforcement lands on somebody's doorstep.

Talk to the conservation officer before you start, not after

This is the single most useful thing on this page.

GOV.UK guidance says that to avoid unnecessary applications, "if there is any doubt about whether listed building consent is required, we would encourage owners and developers to discuss the matter with the local planning authority before submitting any application."

A conversation with the council's conservation officer, before drawings are paid for, tells you what will be accepted and what will not. It costs nothing and it routinely saves a scheme. The same conversation after the work is done is a very different conversation — and one that can end in enforcement, with the work having to come out at your expense.

Build the pre-application discussion into the programme, in the same way you would build in a structural calculation.

How to check where you stand

Three checks, all free, before you plan anything.

Is it listed? Search the National Heritage List for England on the Historic England website, and read the full list entry for your property — including anything it excludes.
Is it in a conservation area? The Planning Portal points to the GOV.UK planning data map for England, and says that if you are unsure you should contact your local planning authority.
Is there an Article 4 direction? This one you almost always have to get from the council's own map or planning team.

Which council depends on where you are: Tandridge for Godstone, Oxted, Caterham, Warlingham, Bletchingley and Lingfield; Reigate and Banstead for Redhill, Reigate, Horley, Merstham, Banstead and Tadworth; Croydon for Purley, Coulsdon and Kenley; Sevenoaks for Edenbridge and Westerham; Mid Sussex for East Grinstead; Mole Valley for Charlwood; and Crawley.

SG Refurbishments has worked on homes across this area since 2005, and we are used to schemes that have to go through conservation officers before anything starts. If you are weighing up work on a listed house or one in a conservation area, ring the office on 01883 337 700 and we will tell you straight what the process looks like.

Common questions

Q.01How do I find out whether my house is listed or in a conservation area?

Listing is recorded on the National Heritage List for England, searchable on the Historic England website; read the full entry, as it can exclude particular parts or structures. For conservation areas, the Planning Portal directs you to the GOV.UK planning data map, and says to contact your local planning authority if you are unsure. Article 4 directions usually have to come from the council's own map or planning team. Around here that means Tandridge, Reigate and Banstead, Croydon, Sevenoaks, Mid Sussex, Mole Valley or Crawley, depending on the address.

Q.02Does Grade II mean only the outside is protected?

No. Listing covers the interior as well as the exterior, at every grade. The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 also brings in objects and structures fixed to the building, and structures in the curtilage that have been there since before 1 July 1948. The grade affects how much weight the council gives to harm when deciding, not whether you need consent.

Q.03Do I need permission to replace my windows?

If the building is listed, you will need listed building consent for window work that affects its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest — which replacement almost always does. If it is unlisted but in a conservation area, replacements of similar appearance are often permitted development, but an Article 4 direction commonly removes that right. Reigate and Banstead, for example, says planning permission is generally required for replacement windows in its conservation areas. Check the direction for your specific address before ordering anything.

Q.04What actually happens if work is done without listed building consent?

It is a criminal offence, not a planning technicality. Section 9 of the Act provides for up to six months' imprisonment on summary conviction and up to two years on indictment, together with a fine, or both. The council can also require the work to be undone. Liability can fall on the person carrying out the work as well as on the owner.

Q.05Can I still extend a house in a conservation area?

Yes, but with fewer automatic rights. Under permitted development you cannot extend beyond a side elevation of the original house, cannot build a rear extension of more than a single storey, cannot use the larger prior-approval rear extension route, and cannot add to the roof. Anything beyond those limits means a planning application rather than an outright no — councils grant conservation area extensions regularly where the design suits the place.

Q.06Do I need permission to cut down a tree in my garden?

In a conservation area you must give the council six weeks' written notice before felling, lopping, topping or uprooting, under section 211 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. During that time the council can make a Tree Preservation Order. If it does not, you may carry out the work after the six weeks have passed, but within two years of the notice. Doing it without notice is an offence.

Where this came from

Sources

Rules change. These are the pages this guide was written from — check them against your own property before you act on anything here.

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