Grade II listed?

[IHateBuyingHouses]

Any experience of this? It's a good space but the carpets are awful and it needs a new kitchen. Would we be likely to get permission to put laminate down and a new kitchen including tiles or is that likely to be a no? How likely are loft conversions to be granted? I've no idea how this works.

I’m pretty certain internal improvements don’t require permission, eg getting rid of old carpets and putting in new kitchen. Of course a loft conversion would require permission and your plans would be under more scrutiny than an unlisted property. My parents renovated a grade 2 listed house including putting in a kitchen into what had been an adjoining barn - they used an architect with experience of listed properties. It did mean the materials had to be high quality and fit the look of the building, so no new plastic windows or whatever. So that, with architect, meant more expensive than renovating non listed. It was lovely though. Hopefully someone else will know more!

Check word for word the details of the listing.

Some houses have very specific features that are listed. Some houses have 1 room that’s of specific interest. In some houses or anything and everything (even if it’s something that was randomly added on to the original in the 70s).

It’s safest to assume that anything you’re altering will need consent. A new kitchen for example would definitely need consent. As would changing the floor covering. New doors, etc.

Needing consent doesn’t mean it won’t be granted though. It’s just an extra process. Talk to an architect in the local area who is used to working with the local council, they’ll be able to give you an understanding of how difficult consent can be to get.

historicengland.org.uk/advice/hpg/consent/lbc/ is useful for reference.

Ours is G2. No permission needed for things that don't alter the fabric of the building - so putting flooring down, wallpapering/painting/general decorationall fine. But knocking down walls and replacing walls are a big no without planning permission. We've done a lot to the house and things we had to obtain PP for were:
Replacing the roof tile (type and colour, plus type of insulation and mortar specified)
Replacing the windows (had to have them made bespoke out of wood to a specification and painted a certain colour)
Building a large shed
Knocking down the garage and building an annexe
We're also going to have to get planning permission to build a car port, probably next year.
None of them were a nightmare except the annexe, which was refused initially, but we got there in the end.

We have a grade II listed and it can vary on the property and the area, ours is very strict on regulations. A new kitchen which is like for like for us wouldn't require permission, if we were making any alterations then we were advised it was safer to get listed buildings consent. This is free and if straightforward takes around a month and would be likely to be granted unless removing original features or affecting outside appearance of property from the front. We were told its normally things like moving gas / electrics which may affect outside which can can issues.

A loft conversion would require planning and listed buildings consent - if it doesn't affect the character of the property this may be granted but it may take some time to get it granted so apply before you need it done. Have a look if any similar properties if they have loft conversions, ours is in a very strict area and has an extension.

Laminate flooring if you already have modern flooring I think you can just add. But often floors are not flat so would get someone round to assess before you buy it.

Its always safest to check the situation in your area with the conservation team at your council, in ours you have to pay for this but in other areas its free.

Thanks everyone, some really useful information here.

@Silkies, what do you mean by, 'check the situation'? Do you mean look at the actual listing? It's a fair point about the flooring, actually- with the age of the building I imagine it wouldn't be flat.

@AlwaysLatte were you allowed double glazing in your windows or did they have to be single pane? Bespoke sounds expensive!

Thanks @PinkPlantCase, that's a useful link.

I mean contact the council's conservation officer and ask for their advice.

I know it is wrong to say internal improvements don’t need approval. It will depend entirely on the fabric of the house. Planners may get very picky about you taking down internal walls, if for example they are an original feature somehow. Fundamentally though you are correct to say you have more freedom is to make things look how you want them to. For example if you decide to knock nails in the wall and paint over stuff that will all be fine. I know this because we have just got consent for a huge overhaul of our grade 2 listed house. If you’re decorating go for it. If you’re actually changing the structure in any way get approval or at least seek some advice

@IHatebuyinghouses have a look at this website, I used to own a Listed II and found the info/advice invaluable.

www.lpoc.co.uk/listed-heritage-magazine/

I changed a window in my listed house snd it had to be like the original amd single glazed. They wanted specific drawings of it including cross sections. However that didn't seem to stop my neighbours putting in uPVC windows (all the houses in the terrace are listed), presumablyhe did it without permission - I guess it depends on the the enforcement officer.

@Midlifephoenix for some reason the porter's house attached to my station wasn't listed, they had UPVC windows and it caused problems with my viewers who hadn't researched the listing.

We weren't allowed double glazing or secondary interior glazing and our sashes were on their last legs. A retired elderly lady in a listed II locally risked double glazing at the back of her house and was reported, was all ripped out. She wasn't prosecuted, luckily.

The 'criminal offence' warning of listed building ownership always gave me the shivers.

It is very much up to the local conservation officer, and the historical interest of your building.
Conservation officer was certainly fussy about window design, and rightly so, but has given numerous buildings in my town permission to install suitable double glazing.

@IHateBuyingHouses no we weren't allowed double glazing, but we did sneakily put in toughened glass, which they didn't know about (not sure if that would have been allowed or not but apart from the tiny kite mark on the windows you would never know). It was expensive, but with old houses if you do have the windows made then at least you can get around the old wonkiness of it!