Trinity College has made the news recently by announcing a scheme to install solar panels on a 200 year old Grade I listed building. Most of us are familiar with the concept of listed building – a mechanism to protect buildings that are architecturally important or unique.  But what are the consequences of having your property listed, and what do buyers need to be aware of if they’re thinking of buying a listed building?

If a property is listed then a property owner will be limited as to the work they can carry out to the property, and certainly any work that is not a straightforward repair or replacement will more than likely need specific listed building consent.  This can add considerably to the time and cost of carrying out refurbishment or improvement work to a property.   It will be the job of the local conservation officers to make sure that the architectural and historical integrity of the building is preserved, whilst not preventing progress – sometimes, quite a tall order!

So what should a buyer look out for if they’re considering buying a property that’s listed?

Consider a full structural survey.   Whilst a building doesn’t have to be old to be listed – take the 1950s Highsett development along Hills Road, for example – most listed buildings are listed to preserve important historical houses.  The very nature of older properties means that buyers would be well advised to invest in a full structural survey and, if necessary, one carried out by a surveyor who specialises in old and ancient buildings.

When was the property listed?  It’s important to find out when the property was listed, as your lawyer will want to know that all work carried out to the property since the date of listing either had the appropriate consent or evidence that consent wasn’t required.  This is where the advantage of a full survey comes in as your surveyor should be able to indicate what work has been carried out.

Know the time limit – which actually means that there is no time limit!  Unlike other planning regulations, there is no enforcement limit for not taking out listed building consent.  If a property owner fails to obtain a required listed building consent he has committed a criminal offence, punishable by a maximum prison sentence of two years and an unlimited fine.

Do your homework.  If the property you’re looking at needs improvement work, or you have changes in mind, then make sure that what you have planned meets with the approval of the conservation officers before you proceed – particularly if you wouldn’t purchase the property if you couldn’t do as you wanted with it.  Conservation officers are usually (though not always) only too pleased to help and can meet you to discuss your plans.

If you’re unsure of anything, ask!  Don’t get caught out by not making a phone call to the local authority.  If you own a listed building, and are thinking of carrying out work, always check with the local authority whether the work requires listed building consent.  Even if the local authority reassure you that the work doesn’t require consent, get them to confirm it in an email or a letter – because in years to come as and when you want to sell, there will be someone like me asking you to prove that what you’ve done didn’t require consent.

For further information, please get in touch with Helen Murphy, Head of the Residential Conveyancing team at Cambridge solicitors Barr Ellison.