Listed Building Consent - Help!

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Hi. I bought a grade 2 listed home a few months ago with an extension on the back, which is the kitchen. When the valuation was carried out by my mortgage lender, they said the roof on the extension needed replacing as it leaks and the beams have rotted. I didn’t have a problem with this and continued with the purchase. Since moving in, 2 of my neighbours have now mentioned that the extension was built without planning permission (and I assume no listed consent). One of them also said the estate agent knew there was no planning permission (very annoyed about that). Nothing was picked up by solicitor etc so I had no idea there was a problem. Perhaps that was naive of me, but this was my first house purchase and I had no idea what I was doing.
I could probably leave this and never have a problem, but I don’t know whether I need listed building consent to replace the damaged roof, and I don’t want to make changes without permission. I had also wondered about putting a skylight in the kitchen roof but would obviously need consent for that. I don’t understand how the property has been sold multiple times without this issue being thrown up?

Any advice would be appreciated.

This is tricky... If you are repairing a non-historic part of the listed building like for like, it's unlikely anyone will care.
The planning issue is a bit more serious. You can check whether the extension has planning on your local authority's planning portal.

Do you know how far back the planning portal data would go? I think the extension was built in the 90s.

I'm amazed this wasn't picked up by your solicitor, assuming its true. I'm my experience they are really hot on checking whether building work has the correct permissions. I would query it with them. Has the house been listed a long time?
I would be very wary of neighbour tittle tattle. Find out the facts for yourself.

The planning portal is a separate website from your local authority's website. It provides general advice.
On the council's site you should be able to search using your address through their historical applications. How far back will depend on the council and whether they have back scanned paper files or it's only recent cases. That's your best place to start. If there's no permission or LBC then go back to your solicitor. It's their job to check.
If it really is just a repair to the roof rather than any replacement then usually you can do this without LBC but you are probably best confirming with the council. It's a free application anyway if you do need to submit one.

Sorry just reread and realised it is a replacement you are thinking of doing - I would think consent would be needed for this.

You need listed building consent. You should approach the conservation officer at your council in the first instance. Policies can vary widely depending on where you live, but the whole of your building is listed therefore changed like replacing a roof even on the conservatory will require consent.
In terms of the part that may have been built without consent, your should contact your solicitor. You need to find out more, and you should be able to find out online if and when permission was given. What did the seller say about this on the SPIF?
Generally listed buildings are an absolute pain in the arse whenever you want to do anything, they also cost a fortune, but if you are prepared to work with the conservation teams then they are usually pretty helpful.

Extensions without planning consent (and presumably building regs approval) can be a nightmare. The plus for you is that if the roof needs replacing I assume it is a fairly old extension? The problem is that it has been built onto a listed building. I assume that is why they didn't get planning consent as it probably wouldn't have been allowed?

I think you need to tread carefully and take advice. Seems like there is a potential liability issue that your solicitor didn't check this? In addition, even if you get retrospective approval, on listed buildings you will probably need approval for the roof replacement so that it is in keeping etc...

Don't just go ahead and replace the roof unless you are happy to wait until you sell but a more diligence solicitor may pick it up and could prevent you selling until you sort it out.

A discussion with your planning and also building control officer may assist but once done you can't just replace the roof!

Good luck!

If the extension was put on before the property was listed it may not have required PP. However you will now need listed building consent to fix it as the whole property will be covered by the listing.

Historic England have good advice about listed property maintenance Making Changes to your Listed Property

Also try the Listed Properties Owners Club (LPOC) and speak to the Heritage or Convervation Office in your local planning department.

If you are going to get quotes from builders/roofers try and get ones from people who have experience with listed properties as they will know the process.