Grade II Listed Buildings – worth it?

[SilverConvention]

We are looking to move and currently only one property ticks our boxes for location/size/budget, plus I really love how gorgeous it is.

We are both a little put off by its Grade II status though. But still, I'm tempted.

Anyone have any positive or horror stories to help us decide if we should consider it properly, please?

The layout is fine, but optimally I'd prefer to make the extra bow bedroom we don't really need, into an en suite.

What should we be thinking about?
All pointers welcome, thank you.

@Mayhemmumma crossposted with you. The Listed Property Owners Club is a valuable source of information.

It will depend on your house! In the LPOC they are always posting people who have underfloor heating but you should take advice first (from people who know listed buildings, not just modern properties) and get to know your house.

We have underfloor heating in some rooms of our G2 listed house.

Generally insulation is the issue with listed houses. Ours costs a fortune to heat because the insultation is so rubbish. Also, as others have said, it's having to get LBC for everything; for example we had to apply for LBC to put in a garden shed! Other expenses are specialist insurance and general maintenance and upkeep.

Re underfloor heating we have a grade II listed thatched cottage full of beams and our neighbour with the same asked for permission for underfloor heating and got it but our floors are not the original as those were mud. If it can be done without affecting original features you may get permission for it.

Ensuite is similar, and would only buy if happy without, plumbing being altered esp on outside of house can be an issue or anything in original part of house if extended with original features like beams. If in an extension part its the outside plumbing that may cause an issue. If there are similar houses look what they have but will be up to conservation officer so if you can get hold of them ask them. Also permission can take a while if not like for like, like for like its been a month, changing chimney back from bodged to original wierdly took 8 months for approval.

@AnnaMagnani OMG - the plumbing.... ours is insane. We have three different heating systems for different parts of the house and so much pipe work it looks like a map of London underground! And ours isn't a particularly large house - it's early Georgian and just over 200 Square meters.

@Mayhemmumma

I'm also in process of buying a grade 2 listed house - Lovely as it is but was wondering about underfloor heating - would this be a no go?

Your best bet is to find a local builder who specialises in listed buildings. If you have original flagstones then my gut feeling is that you'll have to leave them well alone. Original flagstones are often laid on bare dirt anyway (older houses don't tend to have any foundations) so not suitable for underfloor heating. You'd probably be more likely to get underfloor heating upstairs in the bathrooms though.

We haven't found it too much of a hassle - it's the just the needing to get LBC (complete with drawings) for permitted development that has been a pain.

Since we wanted to do repairs etc properly and in keeping, we've not minded the whole right sort of bricks/ lime plaster/ no uPVC business. We've done quite a lot about the draughts and crap insulation and it's warmer than it was.

We almost moved earlier this year and the house we were considering was also listed and a complete wreck - the listing didn't put us off at all, other factors came into play.

@Waspie 3 lots of plumbing!

I'll never forget when my oil boiler finally died one January and the Conservation Officer told me I'd need Listed Building Permission to have a new one as it couldn't go in the same place. It was snowing outside and I cried on the phone to her, I was so cold.

Electric boiler went in 2 weeks later. No research done, just could bear 3 months of no fucking heating.

@Equalpayquery

Hmmm en-suite bathrooms and listing can be complicated depending on the house and the plumbing. As a general rule I would say that if an en-suite is a must then a listed property might not be for you. But worth checking specifics for the house.

It’s always worth investigating

Ours is listed, we repurposed a bedroom off our bedroom creating a large bathroom for us as an en-suite, and by putting a new wall into the repurposed room and knocking through the next door room created an en-suite guest room. The old en-suite we had wardrobes built into the space and it’s absolutely perfect

The only thing the planning people wanted to know about was that one of the walls - was it original to the building, which it wasn’t, so we had no issue at all.

Be mindful of the fact that a listed building isn’t just the structure itself, it’s the grounds too (curtilage) so new patio? Needs planning. Replacing windows? Needs planning .

We have to replace all the windows, so what we’ll do is draw up plans and make one or a couple of larger submissions and then replace them in phases

I drew my own plans for replacing the windows. My home drawn house plan looks comical next to everyone else's on the planning website but it worked.

Plus I got the gist of the heritage statements, access statements (I was just changing a window FFS!) from looking at everyone else in my street's old applications. It was time consuming but not difficult.

The worst was getting Conservation Area permission for replacing a fence with an identical fence

We are also in a conservation area, a lot of grade II are, so needed permission to get trees pruned, and I did a beautiful plan using paint on the computer which looked like a 5 year old had made it.

I also did the plan for the thatched roof but that got sent back as I had not labelled that the roof was on top of the house. I put an arrow and roof and it was fine.

Mortgage. Trinity says there are 18 lenders offering Grade 1 listed building mortgages and 35 lenders providing Grade 2 listed building mortgages. Beyond these, there are private banks and specialist lenders . 18 however isn't a very large set.

Insurance - you are stuck with even fewer options! However when I did claim on my home insurance (I have the LPOC one) after jackdaws came down the chimney when I was on holiday and trashed the house, they were excellent.

NFU insurance is great for listed buildings- and everything else actually as they’re not for profit

How strict planning officers are varies a lot by location: I suggest you make some enquiries specifically re your area

Our conservation officers have been cut to the bone. The days you could call them for a chat are long gone and while they are very interested in applications after that, that's it.

I have the picture of one officer in an office designed for 10, slowly drowning in work.

Our conservation officer is cut to 1 doing 4 peoples jobs and in 3 years I have managed to speak to her once. You can pay 200 pounds or so for a consultation but no free advice in our area. Lpoc have an advice line I think but does vary by area.

Thank you all soooo much for all your input.

We are going to do some extra research and try and make a decision before someone else offers. Though it's been on for a few months, and also had a price drop.
I do love it, but if it passed us by, I'd not feel like it was the only house for us.

Ensuite would be great, but certainly not a deal-breaker.

Any chance of a link to the property SilverConnection? We may be able to offer some more specific tips and advice this way.

Also, if you do decide to go for it make sure you have a full specialist structural survey. Good luck, they are worth the extra expense and upkeep; after all you are living in, and the custodian of, a piece of history