Anyone live in a grade II listed building?

[HenleyHenley]

Morning everyone,

We live currently in a beautiful grade II listed building but we are renting.

We live in Farnham which is a Georgian town, and are looking to purchase our first (and hopefully forever) home here soon.

We have applied for schools for DD so want to stay in the catchment area. We live in the town centre and love the town centre life so ideally looking for a home close by. There are a few available and many of the homes that come up are grade II listed buildings.

Has anybody purchased a listed property, and if so, what have been the biggest set backs?
There are other properties available but we love the old town houses. We don't want a new build and would be happy in a house that isn't listed, but the few that are catching our eyes are listed. Theyre charming and have so much character.

I'm completely new to this, so any advice possible would be great!
The ones we've seen need light, cosmetic work (new kitchens, carpets, paint, new bathroom etc) but no structural work that we can see anyway.

What are the questions to ask and what do we need to look out for?

Thank you!

Bump

The local Council can interfere in almost anything you want to do.
Heating might be expensive as you cant just make the building airtight as this will bring its own issues.
Remember a simple missing slate or tile should have written council permission ( Unless you say it's an emergency!) they may well want to inspect the materials / repair. After being involved in one for the last 3 years I personally wouldn't touch any listed buildings.
Sometimes they will want a Conservation approved Trades man, just someone who has a scrap of paper and charges you double.

Depends on the listing. On the whole minor repairs and maintenance are not an issue & don’t need consent.

I live in a G2 listed house. It’s cold but gorgeous!

Yes, it has been fine for us. We live in an area with a very understanding conservation officer and although things like having to apply for permission for basics like moving a shed, we got used to thinking ahead and putting in an application every couple of years to pay fees once. We have learned to phase changes in terms of securing the viability of the house as a home, and recognise that not being able to do things straight away is the cost of living in a lovely home and area.

We were very glad of that when a bad neighbour moved in next door and set about concreting everything. He has been told quite clearly that he can't do things like rip out historic hedgerow and granite kerbing as to do so would impact on the listed properties and identity of the cluster of houses we live in.

I should say we also have a very good listed property building consultant, which makes all the difference.

Our house isn't cold, it's toasty warm because it's thatched. Size of the spiders though...

My relative lives in a G2 listed central Farnham townhouse, has fully renovated it and has found working with the council fairly straightforward. She is very wealthy though, to the point where money is no object.

I love my listed maisonette, but I wouldn't have bought it if I was hoping to change much about it.
You should be fine to make cosmetic changes, but the kitchen might need permission I suppose.

We live in a grade 2 listed thatched cottage and love it. Does mean you need more permission for things but listed buildings consent is free. Haven't found it more expensive but have found things take longer and need more forms filling in. 18 month wait for a thatcher. Generally like for like not affecting any character of property doesn't need permission so repainting inside won't and like for like kitchen or bathroom won't but if need say electrics or plumbing going outside need permission.

You don’t normally need permission to change the kitchen or bathroom or to put new carpets in and minor repairs that are like for like are usually ok too. It takes a lot of effort to get planning permission, so if you want an extension or similar talk to the conservation officer before you buy to see if it is something that is likely to be granted. We took 18 months to get planning and listed building consent to reinstate a kitchen that had been knocked down in the 50’s. We had to get bat surveys, archaeologist reports and prepare a historic building report amongst other things. Historic England have good advice about what you are and aren’t allowed to do without permission. You can download documents from their website which is very helpful. Be aware that when you buy a listed property you are taking on responsibility for the changes that have been made before you bought it. It is essential to make sure that any changes such as replacement windows for example have listed building consent or you could be hit with a bill to reverse any alterations made. The information should be on the council website.

It's a hassle if big works are needed, e.g. I'm looking at having to replace windows at the moment and it's going to cost an absolute fortune, I'm using a specialist company. Something I didn't anticipate is you can't change the garden - so I'm not able to secure the garden with fences for example, and my neighbour was told to remove decking.

But saying that I've been here over a decade and I've no regrets.

Remember a simple missing slate or tile should have written council permission ( Unless you say it's an emergency!) they may well want to inspect the materials / repair.

Where I live there are lots of listed homes and this isn't how the council applies the rules here, they're only interested if you significantly change the outside appearance of the property e.g. put in a skylight or a modern door.

I own and live in a Grade 2 listed cottage and never had any problems. Our house was an old Village Shop and we are not allowed to change the style of the windows and the front door, although they have been redone to match the style of the original building and double glazed panels fitted. General repairs and maintenance, have been no issue and not needed consent. We cannot knock down walls or add an extension but we knew this before we moved in and didn't want, or need, to do anything like that anyway. We have replaced kitchens and bathrooms and added a new woodburning stove etc with no problems. Yes the house is chilly in the winter but we have LPG gas fired central heating which we keep on low through the winter months to keep the house at a certain temperature and we use a dehumidifier during October to March. But this is because we want to keep the house in good condition and look after it. Look after your old house and it will be fine.
We have loved living in our Grade 2 listed cottage full of history, character and charm 😊

Depends on how much work you want to do. As everyone else says, basic repairs and maintenance are not a problem (although do look out for anything which requires lime wash or mortar as these do cost more).

We bought a Grade II listed property which required complete refurbishment and I am still alive, but we knew what we were taking on and why the council were likely to be sympathetic to our plans.

What kind of period is it, and what is it built from, because that's a big factor in it all (see above about lime wash but also thatch....)

I have a Grade 2 listed property.

I'd bear in mind that council planning departments have been cut to the bone so the likelihood you can ring the conversation officer for a chat now is quite low.

Where I live they only look at applications otherwise they don't care.

However there are loads of sources of helpful advice. The Listed Property Association is good and have an advisor you can chat to if you are a member.

I've only needed permission for work once and did my own application including drawing the house.

Reminds me of a true local story where the owner of a historic building wanted to repair a section of roof on an attached but unused largish annex to a listed building and then renovate it to be part of the main house

The conservation officer said it had to done in order to save the annex. But it had bats living in the roof so the bat conservation officer said that absolutely no work could be done.

Anyway there was a stand off for 18 months with the Conservation officer demanding the work started and the bat officer saying that if work started then the owner would be prosecuted.

After 18 months the roof predictably collapsed also causing the collapse of two walls on the annex.

The conclusion was that the old annex was not repairable and torn down to be replaced with a larger modern annex instead.

It was bloody ridiculous.

It can also vary area to area what you can and can't do, we all have fences around gardens here. Work on trees here needs permission and has to be done by an approved tree surgeon and a few trees have TPOs. Permission takes a few days. We are having trees done soon and it's just over £1,000 for 3 very big trees and do every few years.

I live in a grade 11* Wealden in Kent. No problems with replacing kitchen and bathrooms but any external works have required permission from the planning and conservation officer plus a visit from English heritage. I love my home but maintaining it requires deep pockets.

Conservation officer at council is very hard to get hold of and for anything over 15 minutes in a month's time when they will say they don't know you have to pay and they also don't always give the advice they stick to. When we did the chimney we were given 3 different processes and took 8 months for approval partly as council kept disagreeing on what forms they needed. They've been cut to the bone. And we had to send in an example Tudor brick and example mortar during lockdown.

Grade 2 listed in central Winchester conservation area. Can do more or less anything to interior but not to exterior. Leased, thank heavens, so not responsible for fixing the subsiding SW corner.

@HenleyHenley My DH was involved professionally with Tanyard House after a car crashed into it. If the Farnham Trust has had anything to do with a past “renovation” walk away! Total disaster and a bodge,

Biggest problem is always finding someone who can do the work and can use traditional methods.

99% of problems I've encountered have been cement plaster or mortar being used instead of lime. You get slightly obsessed with lime and buildings needing to breathe.