Listing does not prevent a building from changing. It ensures that alterations are considered carefully and that the features contributing to its special architectural or historic interest are properly understood.
Listed Building Consent is the principal means of managing physical changes to listed buildings in Scotland. A successful application should explain what is significant about the building, how the proposed work will affect that significance, and why the chosen approach is appropriate.
Crowstep Conservation, based in Edinburgh, prepares listed building consent applications and heritage statements across Scotland.
When is Listed Building Consent required?
Listed Building Consent is required for demolition, alteration or extension of a listed building where the work would affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest.
This can include both external and internal work. Common examples include extensions, structural alterations, replacement windows or doors, removal of internal features, changes to roof coverings, alterations to shopfronts, masonry cleaning and partial or complete demolition.
A change of use does not necessarily require Listed Building Consent in itself. However, planning permission may be required for the change of use, while Listed Building Consent may be needed for associated physical alterations.
Routine maintenance and genuinely like-for-like repairs will not normally require consent where they do not affect the building’s character. However, “like for like” means more than replacing one element with another that performs the same function. Material, profile, dimensions, detailing, finish and workmanship may all be important.
For example, replacing a traditional timber sash-and-case window with a modern unit, repointing lime masonry in cement mortar or mechanically cleaning historic stonework would not normally be regarded as neutral maintenance.
Where there is doubt, the local planning authority should be consulted before work begins. Carrying out unauthorised work affecting the character of a listed building is a criminal offence.
Establish what is protected
The first step is to check the Historic Environment Scotland designation record and understand the extent of the listing.
Listing normally applies to the whole building, including its interior, rather than only the features described in the listing entry. It may also include structures fixed to the building and certain older structures within its curtilage, such as boundary walls, gates, gatepiers, outbuildings or stables.
Understand the building before designing the work
A good application should begin with the existing building rather than with a predetermined design.
This means identifying the fabric, spaces, details and historical associations that contribute to its special interest. Depending on the project, this may involve measured drawings, archival research, photographic recording, a condition survey or investigation of previous alterations.
Material analysis may also be appropriate where repairs depend on matching existing stone, mortar, plaster, paint or finishes.
The proposed work should normally seek to retain significant fabric, repair rather than replace where practicable, use materials compatible with the existing construction and avoid unnecessary intervention. Reversibility may be helpful, but it is not the only test. The proposal should be proportionate, technically compatible and based on a clear understanding of the building.
Where significant alteration is proposed, less intrusive alternatives should be considered and the application should explain why they were discounted.
Use pre-application advice
Early engagement with the planning authority can help establish whether consent is required and what supporting information will be expected.
For straightforward repair work, this may involve confirming the principle of the approach and agreeing the information needed. More substantial alterations, extensions or conversions usually benefit from formal pre-application discussions.
These discussions may identify the need for a conservation statement, detailed specifications, material samples, specialist surveys or further drawings before the design becomes fixed.
What should a good application include?
The level of information should be proportionate to the work, but the planning authority must be able to understand the existing building, the proposed intervention and its likely impact.
A typical application may include:
- a location plan and site plan;
- existing and proposed floor plans, elevations and sections;
- enlarged details of important interventions;
- photographs of the affected areas;
- a schedule or description of the proposed work;
- a condition survey where repair or replacement is proposed;
- a conservation or heritage statement;
- material specifications and proposed finishes; and
- any relevant structural, archaeological or specialist information.
The drawings should distinguish clearly between retained, removed and new fabric. Notes such as “replace window to match existing” may be inadequate where profiles, mouldings, glazing patterns, timber sections and finishes affect the building’s character.
The conservation statement should identify the building’s architectural and historic interest, explain which elements will be affected and assess the impact of the proposals. It should then explain why the work is necessary and how the design has responded to the significance of the building.
Minor work may require only concise supporting information. A major conversion, extension or extensive removal of historic fabric will require a fuller assessment.
Submitting the application
Applications are submitted to the local planning authority, usually through the Scottish electronic planning system or the authority’s own portal.
There is generally no application fee for Listed Building Consent, although separate fees may apply where planning permission is also required.
Where both planning permission and Listed Building Consent are needed, the applications should normally be prepared together using coordinated drawings and supporting information. The two consent regimes serve different purposes, but they must describe the same proposal.
There is no outline form of Listed Building Consent. The authority must be able to assess the actual work proposed.
How is the application determined?
The local planning authority normally determines the application. It will assess the proposal against the statutory duties, national policy, local development plan policy and relevant Historic Environment Scotland guidance.
The authority must have special regard to the desirability of preserving the building, its setting and any features of special architectural or historic interest.
This does not mean that all change must be prevented. It means that proposals should avoid unnecessary harm and manage necessary change in an informed and proportionate manner.
The assessment will consider the significance of the affected fabric, the extent of the intervention, whether a less harmful option is available and whether any public or economic benefits justify the identified impact.
Listed Building Consent may be granted, granted subject to conditions or refused. Conditions may require approval of samples, mortar mixes, stone selection, joinery details, finishes or construction methods before the relevant work starts.
Other approvals
Listed Building Consent is separate from planning permission and a building warrant.
Planning permission considers matters such as use, external development and effects on the surrounding area. Listed Building Consent considers the effect of physical work on the listed building’s special interest. A building warrant assesses compliance with building standards, including structure, fire safety, accessibility and energy performance.
A project may require all three approvals, and receiving one does not remove the need for the others.
The strongest applications are those that clearly demonstrate an understanding of the building, provide properly resolved information and explain why the proposed intervention is both necessary and appropriate. This not only assists the consent process but also establishes a sound basis for carrying out the work successfully.
Crowstep Conservation provides advice on alterations and repairs to listed and traditional buildings, including significance assessment, consent strategy, technical drawings, conservation statements and Listed Building Consent applications.