Grade II listed building

[Cobblersandhogwash]

Would you buy a house that was large, needed refurbishment and that was grade II listed?

Would it just be a nightmare trying to get it sorted with all the restrictions? It's not derelict or anything. Just very dated.

I my experience it just involves extra paperwork and time to get the listed building consent and extra costs as a certain type of window was required which was twice the cost of a normal one.

Depends on a few things. What the council is and how flexible conservation officer is.....you won't know this until you are in the process. Expect to spend considerably more on your renovations as the council will have to give written approval for any external features.

My PILs live In a grade 2 Voysey cottage in Worcestershire. It has original single paned crittal windows which are freezing. They asked permission to replace with newer crittals .....council said no. Wanted to change external paint colour from dark green woodwork....council said no. Internal changes are easier to make. Extension approvals can be slow ....expect to use the services of a planning consultant which will cost a few ££. I'm a landscaper ...sometimes on listed buildings even garden plans need approval.

I think I'd want to be sure I could get the layout to work, as I think extensions/layout changes could be tricky. Either I'd have to be happy with the layout as is, or I'd want to talk to an architect with lots of listed building experience who would know what we could do to it, and come up with a plan I was happy with, before taking it on.

No. Absolutely not. I say that ss someone who is currently entirely renovating a large house that needs total refurbishment whilst living in a carvan with 3 DCs under the age of 5.

Dealing with listed building consent would tip me over the edge into total insanity

Listed building equals a fucking money pit. Lived in one for nearly twenty years. The council never let you do anything and the things they do allow cost twice as much as what everyone else pays. And it was never warm. Unless you’re independently wealthy, avoid.

We have refurbished 2 grade II listed homes. It’s more admin etc but totally doable. Love the house you posted but would check carefully that the covenants aren’t going to be too restrictive for you. They are over and above what normally comes with grade II listing.

I was going to say - house insurance is more expensive if you live in a listed building but it is worth it when you get to live in an interesting beautiful property
BUT if you have in excess of £1,000,000 to spend on a house the extra insurance cost will probably not matter to you.

Just looked at the floor plans. Your problem will be bathrooms / ensuites. Difficult to do these without some external alteration even if only pipe or vent. The seller retains control over what you can do externally and they may be more unreasonable than any council ...

I live in a listed building. Things like doing up the interior doesn't need permission, as long as you don't remove or change original features.

You need permission when you start to make structural changes or want to remove original features. If you plan to do neither, just things like paint, decorate, carpet, replace kitchen then no permission is required it's like any other home.

In this instance though I would check it was structurally sound via a full survey. You need to understand if any structural work is required. Be it windows, roof, etc.

I would be happy to keep a listed building as intended, so wouldn't mind much working with planning dept etc

Unless...

What was listed was not in keeping with the actual period of construction.

There was a 'my dream derelict home' episode or something similar. Couple paid a fortune to restore the house including changing the hearth area to something more like the original. They were then forced to change it back to something hideous as the hideous thing was there when it was listed.

This may have been down to poor communication or a particularly odd individual decision but it did put me off.

Sounds from the restrictions there has been some 'history' with the Church. Sounds like the drive will have to be rerouted away from the Church driveway (and new driveways cost a LOT).....
Don't like the Seller having a covenant on the appearance.
Needs more digging. I suspect the Church are selling it and there may be more to the ongoing relationship than is obvious...

Check the flood risk and get a survey done by someone who specialises in listed buildings, we were looking at a 1680 cottage and decided in the end that it would just cost to much money quite a few builders etc suggested with many old properties with possibly hidden problems if you can't afford to pay double the asking price walk away as they can be gigantic money pits

Oh gosh yes if it has church links there may be chancel liability too

Chancel liability is easily sorted out with a fairly cheap insurance policy.

Usually yes but if there are clear ties with the church then the insurance may be harder or dearer to get as bigger risk

The layout looks fine to me. As long as you can live with that I would say go for it.

Do be aware that any changes made since the listing which haven't had permission become your responsibility to put right once you are the owner.

Our house is Grade B listed (we’re in Scotland).

Never again! Like a previous poster has said, it’s been a gigantic money pit. We thought the house had been completely renovated, but there were lots of hidden flaws in the property.

Water always gets in somehow. It’s very difficult to find where it’s coming from. The tiniest of cracks can cause so much damage.

We’ve had to get planning permission to paint the house, cut down some trees, replace the windows, replace a roof. It was costly and time consuming. The council even wanted architect’s drawings and we had to source original materials. It’s cost us an eye watering amount of money and hasn’t done much to the value of the property.

Currently live in one. Whole street is listed. Our conservation officer is pretty reasonable and a few doors up they've not long finished a massive renovation to make all the bedrooms ensuite. We've had several emails stating we need no permission for X (have kept emails somewhere very very safe!) and the stuff we have needed permission for has been granted. The paperwork is a bit of a ballache but in our council we don't pay for listed building consent so it really is just paperwork. So I think it depends, but we went in fairly blind and have been pretty lucky. I'd be more cautious next time.

Yeah I think I'll swerve this one!

Thank you for all the advice.

If you don't want to change the layout inside then it's fine, it's a lovely house. I'd do it.