AIBU to consider buying this house

[MountainSnow]

We are considering buying a listed farmhouse, needs renovation/modernisation of house and outbuildings.

We can just about do it financially (buy the house + budget for renovations to the house to make it liveable) - would need to use architect / builders for most of the work (we both work FT/PT, have young children and do not have any building expertise).

I'd like to hear any advice / experiences ... particularly as the house is listed - seems to add a whole new layer of complexity (and expense ..)

Please ignore those whom are advising that grade II only applies to the outside, this is factually incorrect and unauthorised works to a listed building can be a criminal offence. The difference in grading suggests the scale of national significance, not what is listed and what isn't.

Please ensure that the works undertaken to the building previously have listed building consent. Make sure your solicitor checks this. You can access the planning register and see what they have applied for. Like for like repairs do not require consent but they need to be like for like, not replacing lath and plaster with plasterboard etc.

Please do contact your conservation officer for advice, most planning authorities have a pre-application service by which you can find out what you can do once you have plans.

Please don't use the British listed buildings website. It's not up to date. Use the official Historic England one.

Please instruct an architect with historic building experience or someone who is a member of the IHBC to advise you privately and ask them to be your agent if you need any advice and deal with the local planning authority.

Best of luck

Ps II* are my favourite. There's always something quirky about them.

We were told by our district council that like for like repairs do require listed building consent. Speak to your individual council although unless it's a massive project with staff cuts we can't speak to an actual person we have to email for advise.
As I said above we started out with a well regarded recommended local architect who specialises in our local stone buildings and he was going to be our "agent" his charges were going to be prohibitive for the relatively small amount of work we wanted done. So on talking to our district council they advised us not to waste our money but do it ourselves with their advise on what needed to be submitted. In fairness we weren't knocking down external walls, digging out basements or putting on a large extension, primarily changing windows, also errecting a garden shed, listed building consent is required for this.
I do agree that grade 11 status applies to the whole house and garden including our hideous 70's extension.
I rang my district council when we were purchasing the house and they suggested I come into their offices and read the file on all planning applications made, they also gave me the files for the houses either side as apparently it is common for consent be filed in your neighbours file. It made fascinating reading, our house and either side were 1 in the 16th century, then three, then two shops and 2 houses the 2 houses and 1 shop. No planning had ever been sought for the hideous 1970's window, a grant in the 70's had added the bathroom extension and the earth floor in the living room/kitchen was only concreted over 8 years ago.
There is something appealing about living in a house with so much history when I sit by our 900 year old fire place (recycled when the house was first built in the 16th century from a local 11th century monastery) in a house that dates back to Catherine of Aragon (who was very involved in this area and "sponsored" local churches etc,) I wonder how many others have done the same thing. Yes it's a bit scruffy, needs all new windows, just "repairing" the roof cost an arm and a leg, the walls are uneven, lumps of plaster fall off every time you hang a picture the drains being so old and thus very narrow block all the time and our absolutely massive fireplace smokes badly but I wouldnt swop it for a modern box.

Listed buildings will require more care and attention in order to preserve their historic features, but they are also fantastic buildings to live in and not everyone gets the chance to say that they live in a listed building.

@Mountain Snow, you mention that your builder has some experience with listed buildings, however you might want to consider a more specialist company/provider as they will be able to tell you everything to the minute details like brickwork, flint, lime rendering etc and they would also be able to do a condition survey for you - which is highly recommended (it will tell you the building's condition, its risk category and is a good thing to have as a record of your building's condition)

I was googling some information for you and came across this, which might help:
www.ernestbarnesltd.co.uk/5-things-youmust-consider-listed-building-extension/
Although it is about lusted building extensions, I thought it had a lot of useful information about things you will need to consider in the long run.
Hope it helps