Quell my qualms about grade II listed houses

[StripeyBedSocks]

The very few houses that are actually coming up in our fairly small search area that would suit us in other respects all tend to be Grade II listed.

— I don’t think they are particularly grand or special before anyone gets the wrong idea, I just think the assessor spent a lot of time in this town in the 70s

Anyway, we have always avoid listed, didn’t need the headache, don’t want anyone else’s say so on what we do with our house but we might need to rethink, is it as big a deal as I think it is?

Most of the houses have been remodelled over the years so not big projects to be done, maybe like to add an En suite bathroom and decorate, not surE about the windows

Can’t relieve your worries. We bought a 1700s build, ended up moving, we literally had no money due to upkeep/repairs.

I’ve had several listed houses, love living in a piece of history. IME once you’ve removed the modern repairs that aren’t suited to an old property (replacing plaster with lime plaster as an example) and have got it up to scratch it doesn’t take any more looking after than any other house.

I live in a conservation area in a non listed house these days. Still have to have wooden windows etc. I like the fact that the area and/or houses have to be preserved.

Check they have had permission for all the changes they have done and that the buildings are in good condition and have been looked after by someone who knows what they are doing and you should be fine.

Use a solicitor that knows a bit about listed houses. They’ll do all the checks on previous permissions. Won’t be hard to find one if there are tons of listings in the district.

You can make a huge difference with windows and doors. A Tudor house I owned wasn’t cold at all once the chimneys had been lined, sashes and doors renovated and adjusted and decently interlined blinds and curtains/door curtains put up.

DDs friends family moved into a beautiful G2 listed house about a year ago. The dad said to me the other day "I didn't really do much research into listed homes. I certainly wouldn't buy one again".

Yeah check efficiency stuff, insulation etc. And windows. I’m in a Category A listed (Scottish equiv of Grade I) and if any of the big sash windows need replacing they’re twelve grand each. The flat has 10 of these windows in total…

Part of my house is 500-600 years old and grade II listed. It's been difficult but not impossible to renovate. If your taste is adding modern structures to old, you've got no chance. But with some knowledge and understanding of old buildings you'll know what's possible to do with them.
Make sure you know of local builders with listed building experience and be prepared for constant upkeep

We have been living in a thatched listed building, that is also in a conservation area since 1993.

We have added a two floor extension, it replaced an attached garage. We have also had an extension along the back, which replaced a narrower corrugated shed. We have also put on a conservatory.

Pretty much everything has to go through the Conservation office as well as buildings regulation. The back extension and conservatory work was 1993- 1996, with the 2 storey in 2008.

Its been very much a mixed bag. Guidelines have obviously changed over the years, and the actual conservation officer can sometimes be a little idiosyncratic, and they always trump buildings regs.

Some examples. We must retain the existing single glazed wooden windows at the front of the main house.The back extension, not visible from the road, we were allowed to put in double glazed wooden windows, but they insisted on metal conservation roof lights (twice the price of velux).The conservatory was also double glazed.

The 2storey extension had to have bespoke single glazed wooden window (both front and back) Very expensive. The back windows are not visible from the road.
The main house is thatched, the back extension and conservatory were slate, originally done to match the roof of the original attached garage.

However, when we demolished the garage we applied to reslate the new roof. But they insisted we use red clay tiles, and we had to submit the tile we wanted to use. They then insisted we use a redder tile. You go figure that one. We have rewired and replumbed throughout.

So very much a mixed bag as I said. They refuse stuff you think is very reasonable, but say yes to something you thought they’d object to. We have loathed them at times. We started to think that whatever you asked for they felt a need to say no to at least something. We have had at least one of them tell us we are merely caretakers for the future.

I don’t know if it is still possible but you used to be able to ring them up, just to talk about possible work, and they would give you an answer at the time. otherwise look up listed buildings consents on your local councils website. That will give you an idea of what they’re allowing and refusing.

We had a grade 2 listed flat in London. The upkeep was extremely expensive. When the roof needed changing, several flat owners had no choice but to sell as they couldn’t afford to pay for the new roof.

I would not buy a listed property again.

My late husband fell in love with our Grade II listed railway station, but it was a money pit, for twenty years we threw everything we had at it. When he died I was so worried as it was deteriorating rapidly and I knew the rooves (roofs?) would have to be replaced very soon.

It is a criminal offence to allow the building to fall into disrepair and can be confiscated, I had to make a difficult decision and sell, but almost had to give it away.

As with anything depends on the state you buy it in, when it was built etc. Our house is a Grade II listed. It’s 17thC and has been renovated already by someone who knew what they were doing. Because it’s timber and plaster it’s actually quite well insulated; and the windows are small so don’t lose lots of heat. I have to say we saw a lot of badly done up listed houses before this one and they would have been massive money pits…

listed buildings just require an even more thorough ‘case by case’ assessment than other houses- but you know, they -are more interesting……

Thank you all, the replies sort of sum up where I am at!

I keep pinging between the character and solidness to the concerns over efficiency and the expense, more than that I guess it does not suit my personality to have someone else decide on my house and arbitrary seeming rules and regs - single glazed door/windows? honestly!

and we do not know much about buildings, particularly old buildings, I guess old we could handle if it weren’t for the listed aspect, puts me right off, I think I will go with my gut instinct and swerve

Listing is as at the time of listing. Friends had a 17th C house grade 2 which was listed with 1970s dormers. They were not allowed to put in new dormers that were in keeping with the 18th C, they had to stick with repairing the 1970s ones or replacing them with the same.....
However, on other issues, they found the best plan was always to contact the person who would be taking a decision before planning what to do and ask for advice. Planning officers get used to people doing stuff without asking and fighting all the time and being total arses with them, so if you ask nicely first they can be so pleasantly surprised that they will often let you do much more than you'd have thought. The local person they dealt with was, they had been told by local house owners, totally unreasonable. They approached her politely and she was actually very helpful- even suggested they did work they thought they had dared not asked for (put on a little roof above the front door- she had noticed the flag floor got wet when it rained just inside the door) and helped them do it in keeping- it looked very nice.