help! bought a listed building

[patchworkchick]

Moved home in October all went through smoothly. Architect instructed etc, went to planning and the house is listed - what can I do? The solicitor, surveyor and estate agent all failed to report this fact to me - knowing it was a wreck and needing major work. Any advice?

The solicitor should have known it was listed!
All is not lost though- we are converting a listed building...

I didn't know ours was listed either! however we did realise it was in a conservation area, so we are restricted on some things (no cheap double glazing). It might not be as bad as you think, the planners compromised on slates when we had to do our roof, we were not allowed cheap chinese ones but we didn't have to buy the most expensive ones either.

we had planned on removing a damp cold extension and building a new full width extension. Love the old sash windows, just not the wet rot! The planners were so down when they visited today I just wanted to cry, husband agreed to buy said place if we could renovate and make larger. Staverton how easy was it for planning consent? Wigglybreezer were they very tough on you?

Not quite the same but when pils bought their house they weren't told that a portion of the garden wasn't included. They successfully sued the solicitor for the misinformation and were able to buy the rest of the garden with the money. Don't know if legal action would be an option for you?

I called the solicitors to complain, just waiting to hear from them.

Definitely investigate lack of information about listing - not least, was there listed building consent for the damp cold extension? (if it was built relatively recently). I am sure this is something the vendor should declare to the estate agent, at the very least, and surely it should be apparent in the searches.

However, you now own the house so have to work with what you've got. Put your plans to one side for a minute and talk to the planners about what you can do, and what you are trying to achieve. When I owned a listed building I found them very helpful and reasonable: especially in the area of 'honest repairs'.

We live in a 400 yr old listed house. Our neighbours (same age of house & listed) got pp last year to do a massive extension across the back with a huge glazed feature. It looks amazing but completely without sympathy to the original house. The planners liked it because of this, not despite it!

Thank you, gives a little hope. The extension dates form the 50's and has been so badly maintained it has just rotted. The case planner who visited today was very negative, listed buildings arrive next week and fingers crossed. We don't want to build anything dreadful - just a kitchen/living room extension to make the place work. Sadly other than the sashes not an original feature in the place.

I think you need to be very firm with your solicitor. This is exactly the sort of thing you are supposed to know about!

We had a Grade 2* listed house once and had all sorts of problems making it safe so as to gain access to the double pitched roof to clear leaves and prevent the roof from leaking - again!! The planners were difficult not least because we didn't know what we were doing and didn't know how to 'play' the game. Ultimately we learned how to and got it through then the buildings regs cameround took one look at the whole roof - not the access we had done- and said it 'wasn't up to current building standards' duh! it was a 250 georgian terrace - still stading with no signs of falling down any time soon!!
My advice would be to get on side with the man at the planning office explaining that you didn't know about it being listed and bearing in mind that you do now know what can he do to help you get it right. I think most of these people spend most of their day dealing with stroppy pepole not getting their own way and shouting at them that their initial reaction is to be on the defensive - if you are nice and put yourself at their mercy - invite them round - cup of tea, nice biscuits you have a good chance of getting pretty much what you want if they think it's their idea . IMHE.
I say 'man' at the planning office as this way works with my DH too - might not work so well with a lady but it's worth being nice.

We had to get our roof renewed and chimneys rebuilt, so no changes to look of building. As I said they didn't make us replace the slates with exact replicas (ie. salvaged slates) but we had to use good quality slates of a similar appearance. It all involved more visits and letters and took much longer than it would normally. They didin't make us replace the horrible plastic gutters put up by the previous owners though so they could have been a lot worse.
Its actually not the planners you have to watch out for round here, it's the local busybodies on the civic trust who patrol looking for violations!
We had our sashes professionally restored and draftproofed, well worth it.

I can answer any of the legal stuff about your solicitor bit I can give advice on the building works. You need to contact your local planning dept and let them know you need to do some work to the house. They will send one of their conservation team out who will be able to give you details on what you can and can't do. To be honest, it is unlikely that the whole house is listed but it might be. hey will keep an eye one the works as they progress to make sure they are done correctly. You must contact them before starting by law, you can be prosecuted for doing unapproved work.

That's a common misconception. If the house is listed it IS the whole house.

I will let you know about our planning we find out in a month.

Definitely get the local conservation officer out and get her on side. Say you didn't know it was listed. Ask what you can do to make it more habitable. It is likely you will be allowed to do some sort of extension It's def worth sucking up to him/her and asking for advice

Yes and just to add to what Staverton has said, if/when you do the extension, that will then form part of the listing too so you will have the same restrictions on doing any further works to the new part of the building as you would with the original house. Listed buildings officers are often happy to have a new extension/alteration with a modern look so that it is clear which parts of the building are original and which are later. So all might not be lost.

I have a thread on property at the moment about the vendor/agent not disclosing some information, and have been advised about the Misrepresentation of Property Act (not sure if that is the exact right name). It might be worth you looking into this.

Why don't you come over to the Property forum and talk about what you want to do? Quite a lot of us have listed buildings and can talk about our own experiences. As Staverton says, the whole house, inside and out is listed, and in the form that it currently is - evil 1950s extension and all.

If you know what the role of the conservation officer is, then it will make the whole process a lot smoother. Is your architect not experienced in working with listed buildings?

I have to say, frustrating as it can be, right at the moment we are blessing our conservation officer... it's a long story.

P.s. Presumably you know that your alterations are VAT exempt?

Yes as grendels mum says all alterations for which you get listed buildings consent for is VAT free! That is definitely an upside.
All repairs you pay VAT.
Eg even the kitchen units are exempt If they are in a new extension. You have to get your builder to buy it though and zero rate it

Grendels mum- have you got a link with good info on above? Im not sure whether to employ an accountant to sort it out or is there a definitive VAT/listed building guide somewhere?

Staverton - there's a very helpful webpage on the Inland Revenue site which is intended for builders. I think it's this one here: customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageVAT_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000513&propertyType=document#P947_97421

However, as you already know, the builder has to buy it and zero rate it. I actually ended up emailing the Inland Revenue who were very helpful. I then sent the IR email to the company doing the building works and let their accountants sort it out! The accountants were a bit nervy until they saw the IR email, which calmed them down.

Thank you that's incredibly helpful