The houses in my neighbourhood are mainly more than 100 years old; in many ways they are typical of the turn-of-the-century garden maisonettes built by socially aware factory owners in north London.

It would, nonetheless, be a shock should anyone suggest they be given listed building status, to stop a neighbour from converting a loft into a nursery, for example. And therein lies the difficulty in preserving our heritage, where the desire to protect the outstanding or the unique is often in conflict with the wishes of the owners or the occupiers, whose needs change with changing circumstances.