Heritage

The CLA’s 35,000 members manage and/or own between a quarter and a third of all heritage in England and Wales.  Each year our members spend at least a billion pounds on repairing historic buildings, welcome millions of visitors, paying and non-paying, and make many thousands of applications for planning permission and listed building consent.  We are by far the biggest 'owner' stakeholder group in the heritage field.  For updated news on heritage, see CLA Heritage news as below.

This page gives a general introduction, with links to useful information. 

For regularly-updated news on heritage relevant to CLA members, see CLA heritage news.

CLA report Averting crisis in heritage (July 2011)

For CLA policy on heritage, see CLA heritage policy and achievements

CLA information page on paying less VAT on work to heritage

Frequently-asked heritage questions (for example whether you need Listed Building Consent, whether you will get it, or whether anyone will give you a grant)

The CLA 2005-06 Member Heritage Survey report "Who pays for Heritage", published in 2006

There are links to relevant further information below.

Making heritage a source of pleasure and income - rather than anxiety and unsupportable cost - is one of the biggest challenges faced by many CLA members.

The CLA takes a great interest in heritage, both in helping members and in lobbying for change, and has a specialist Heritage Adviser, Jonathan Thompson, and a Heritage Working Group of CLA members, chaired by Charlie Forbes Adam.

Few organisations are actively working and lobbying for those who own - and pay for - heritage. As a CLA member you can benefit from this lobbying, and from free advice on heritage alongside our other advice services on tax, law, planning, and the rural economy. You do not need to farm, or to own any significant amount of land to join - a high proportion of our members have a house, a few outbuildings, and a small amount of land. Further benefits of membership can be obtained using the links on his website.

Contacts and Feedback

For prompt advice please contact your CLA regional surveyor or adviser in the first instance. » Adviser Contacts

Links to external websites and web-published documents

A. CLA Guidance Notes (accessible only to CLA members)

Getting heritage consents and heritage-relevant planning consents under the NPPF, a general guide for CLA members to getting consent to make changes to (or near) heritage in England (revised 2012).  Many of the principles (but not the technical detail) may be relevant in Wales.

Marquees and other temporary structures for events - planning and heritage issues (2011)

B. Relevant Government departments and bodies

English Heritage

Cadw

Department for Culture Media and Sport (England, responsible for designation and English Heritage)

Department for Communities and Local Government (England, responsible for local authorities and planning)

DEFRA (England, responsible for agriculture, environment)

C. Heritage legislation

Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (England and Wales)

Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 (England and Wales)

Stopping the Rot (2011, detailed guidance on the numerous statutory powers of local authorities to compel owners of heritage to carry out works - England, but much of it continues to apply in Wales)

D. Planning and heritage policy statements - England

National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF, March 2012)  The new 50-page statement on national planning policy which replaced all the pre-existing Planning Policy Statements and Planning Policy Guidance notes.

PPS5 Practice Guidance (March 2010).  This is definitely still valid (except where, rarely, it conflicts with the NPPF), despite the replacement of PPS5 by the NPPF, but will be replaced by new guidance (unlikely before early 2013 at the earliest).

English Heritage website statements on constructive conservation This is a clear - if not very detailed - statement of EH policy on change to heritage, and it is almost essential to quote it in any argument supporting change.  If you cannot find it, put "constructive conservation" into the search box on the EH website or into a search engine.

Guidance on information requirements and validation (March 2010, useful on unreasonable information reguirements)

Development management policy annex: information requirements and validation for planning applications (March 2010, useful on unreasonable information reguirements)

Permitted development for householders - technical guidance (September 2010)

Guidance on Article 4 Directions (which restrict permitted development rights, for example in Conservation Areas) (CLG, November 2010)

DCMS policy and guidance on Scheduled Monuments (March 2010)

The Government's Statement on the Historic Environment for England 2010 (March 2010 - useful over-arching statement of overall policy, but published by the previous Government so its status can be questioned)

Guidance on minerals and PPS5 (October 2010)

CANCELLED PPS 5 - the key planning policy statement for the historic environment (March 2010, replacing PPG15 and PPG16; see also its Practice Guide). Has been cancelled and replaced by the National Planning Policy Framework as above.

CANCELLED PPS 4 - the planning policy statement on business development (including re-use of old buildings) (2009)

CANCELLED PPS 7 - the planning policy statement on development in rural areas (including re-use of old buildings)

E. Planning and heritage policy statements - Wales

Planning Policy Wales (February 2011;  overall statement of planning policy in Wales;  will probably be replaced after 2012;  heritage policy approach remains very outdated)

Welsh Office Circulars 60/96, 61/96, 1/98 (deal with heritage protection in Wales, will probably be replaced after 2012)

F. Heritage guidance

CLA guidance is listed above. 

English Heritage publishes an online Guide to Heritage Protection in England which is a 90-page introduction to the mechanics of heritage protection, probably best read alongside the CLA's Guidance Note Getting heritage consents and heritage-relevant planning consents under the NPPF.

There is a large volume of English Heritage guidance available from the HELM website as below, under English Heritage guidance, then put a relevant word into the search box.

For Wales, Cadw guidance is available from the Cadw website as above, under conservation and publications.

G. Advisers

A list of specialist firms giving heritage planning advice.

H. Other relevant information

The Planning Portal (gives access to much planning information and guidance, online planning and listed building consent applications, and local authority information including links to local plans)

HELM (England, a useful source of information on managing the historic environment, including links to almost all English Heritage guidance)

Heritage Counts (annual summary of heritage facts and figures for England; the CLA sits on its editorial panel) (England)

Heritage at Risk (English Heritage's annual survey of heritage at risk, with links to individual sites)

Stopping the Rot (detailed guidance on the numerous statutory powers of local authorities to compel owners of heritage to carry out works - England but much of it applies in Wales)

The Heritage Gateway (England, incomplete but developing online database giving access to local historic environment records and other information on individual heritage assets and sites, mostly archaeological; the CLA sits on its Advisory Committee)

National Heritage List for England (shows all listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks, etc, with links to official list descriptions and sometimes further information)

The Economic Impact of Maintaining and Repairing Historic Buildings in England (2012) quantifies the cost and value of heritage construction work in England

Valuing the Welsh Historic Environment (2012) quantifies economic impacts of heritage in Wales

A Fourth Report on Local Authority Staff Resources 2012 (important survey showing further declines in local authority conservation staffing)

English Heritage/IHBC/ALGAO Conservation Provision Survey 2011 (important survey showing declines in local authority conservation staffing)

English Heritage/IHBC/ALGAO Conservation Provision Survey 2009

English Heritage/IHBC Local Authority Conservation Provision Survey (2003)

Constructive Talk, guidance on pre-application discussions 2010

I.  Tax

HMRC IHT/CGT guidance Capital taxation and the national heritage

For VAT on works to heritage see the CLA heritage tax page

J. Energy efficiency in traditional buildings

Advice on energy efficiency in traditional buildings includes Warmer Bath;  guidance from the Edinburgh World Heritage Trust, including in particular Energy Heritage:  a guide to improving energy efficiency in traditional and historic homes;  the Changeworks website;  and English Heritage's Climate Change Your Home project.  For information on double glazing, see a 2010 research report Double glazing in listed buildings which suggests the use of new slim (and very expensive) double glazing systems.  NB note that most local authorities will demand listed building consent applications for any double glazing and refuse to grant them, that the cost-effectiveness of expensive systems is questionable other than perhaps where there are no existing windows, and especially that where there are windows, refurbishment and draughtproofing is usually a much cheaper and easier option than replacement).

K. Other relevant organisations

Heritage Alliance (the heritage sector lobbying organisation of which the CLA is a member)

Institute for Historic Building Conservation

Historic Houses Association

Lands Trust Association

Listed Property Owners Club

English Stone Forum

This page last changed (but not necessarily comprehensively updated) 5 December 2012.