Grade 2 listed properties

[madcatladyforever]

I've just downsized and bought a lovely grade 2 listed cottage, it really is the house of my dreams, just needs decorating as the current decor is the worst of b&q. No problem there but there are a few things I'll need to do to make it liveable and the council listed building website is useless.
I want to move a radiator,
retile the bathroom and kitchen,
put new doors on the kitchen units,
put in a nice chunky rustic pine fireplace surround as the original was taken off years ago and it's just a blank wall,
rebuild the banisters as they are missing,
make the current conservatory into a utility room - no building work just put in kitchen cabinets to hold freezer, washing machine and dryer, it's too small to use as a proper conservatory.
Put a woodburner in the original fireplace.
Does anyone with experience think these are just minor adaptations that won't need permission.

Your best bet is to phone your local council and ask for advice from their listed buildings officer. Because it all depends on what about your property is important for the Grade 2 listing.
I would also suggest considering joining the Listed Building Owners club.

You need to phone the planners. Some of this can be done without permission, some will require it.

I want to move a radiator, - no issue.
retile the bathroom and kitchen, - ni issue unless it's original tiles. It sounds like not.
put new doors on the kitchen units, again, no issue unless original kitchen doors.
put in a nice chunky rustic pine fireplace surround as the original was taken off years ago and it's just a blank wall, - doubtful this will be permitted, more likely you will need to put back in a style that was originally there.

rebuild the banisters as they are missing, again this might need to be done in the style that was originally there.
make the current conservatory into a utility room - no building work just put in kitchen cabinets to hold freezer, washing machine and dryer, it's too small to use as a proper conservatory. This should be fine if you don't change the structure, but better to check, all these things are temporary,
Put a woodburner in the original fireplace. Again this should be fine as long as done by hetas and in line with building regulations.

Don't listen to the advice here, OP. Listed buildings can be interior or exterior or particular fixtures and fittings. It's all bespoke. So you need advice on your specific property, not a forum.

Always best to check with the council first, and to check the specific details of your listing and what's covered. However, from my own experience with our Grade II house I would have thought:

move a radiator might be an issue
retile the bathroom and kitchen no problem, cosmetic work only
put new doors on the kitchen units no problem, cosmetic work only
put in a fireplace surround prob ok, Council might want to approve the design.
rebuild the banisters more of an issue, they would likely want to approve the design
current conservatory into a utility room prob ok
Put a woodburner in the original fireplace could be an issue

Good luck with it!

We did similar, and needed permission for fireplace surround (needed scale drawings), woodburner (also wanted to know what the cowl looked like) and bannister.

We paid for pre-app advice (£120) and conservation officer said we didn't need it for: re-tiling, replacement bathroom santitary ware , replacement kitchen units (although we did need it for new kitchen/bathroom extractors that vented outside), new radiators, new boiler (except for new vent).

We did need it for new window in backdoor, repair of an internal beam, strengthening of floor joist, and replacement of cupboard door.

But as previously mentioned, listed building consent seems to be an art, not a science, and I'm sure if we'd had another officer do the pre-app the list of things requiring and not requiring consent would have differed. So the belt and braces approach would be to pay for pre-app advice (very few councils offer this for free nowadays unfortuately) to find out exactly what requires permission (and whether you are likely to get it).

I wouldn't do anything until I'd spoken to the conservation officer. I had a listed building and we were only permitted to change certain things like for like. Other internal things that didn't affect the actual fabric of the building were permitted but things like fireplaces would certainly need at least a discussion.

Thanks for all the advice, I asked the council about ringing the officer involved and they won't allow that any more. They said just look at the website and apply for everything I want to do. Not very helpful so it looks like I'm going to have to go the long way round with applications for everything.
However, after a bit of digging on the internet I discovered the old fireplace surround has actually just been painted over so I'll get that uncovered.

We got a grade II listed property last year and had similar issues. Don't answer e-mail, difficult to get through on phone, no general advice, website unhelpful. Neighbour got through was told to do one form, six weeks later called for update, wrong form do this one. Did that one, two weeks later, that's wrong form but we'll keep your £400, do this one. So we have both filed in a third form but now work is urgent.

We were lucky house was already renovated but need chimney repaired and new thatch this winter. From what builder said modern to modern inside generally doesn't require permission as long as not affecting anything original. He said they can object to moving pipework and he recommended checking kitchen projects as he's had projects just stall when people haven't got permission first. There is a listed property owners club which has advice line which may help for general advice but it is area specific.

I think ours may do a service where you can pay for advice but getting hold of that is not easy and we've had three different people give three different lots of advice all saying others are wrong for chimney. I've asked who is incharge but they are ignoring us. Will just see if they accept third set of forms.