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The role of local authorities

Local authorities and conservation officers, although often the contact for these buildings, are not estate agents and will probably only be able to give you limited information about a building at risk. It will be up to you to do the rest of the research, but once you've identified a building they will be able to help you with a lot of the practical stuff.

The works which you are intending to do may require Planning Permission or Listed Building Consent. Most of the buildings in this catalogue are listed and it's worth bearing in mind, if you haven't worked with a listed building before, that some works which do not need planning permission will require listed building consent.

Planning Permission

You do not always need planning permission. It is not required, generally speaking, for changes to the inside of buildings, or for small alterations to the outside such as the installation of telephone connections and alarm boxes. Other small changes, for example putting up walls and fences below a certain height, have a general planning permission for which a specific application is not required.

Guidance from the DCLG. http://www.communities.gov.uk/corporate/

Listed Building Consent

Controls apply to all works, both external and internal, that would affect a building's special interest, whether or not the particular feature concerned is specifically mentioned in the list description. Consent is not normally required for repairs, but, where repairs involve alterations which would affect the character of the listed building, consent is required.

Planning Policy Statement 5(PPS5) replaced PPG15 in March 2010 and sets out planning policy for the conservation of the historic environment. The new statement is accompanied by a Practice Guide. Plans that might affect a listed building, conservation area or other heritage asset should comply with these documents. These can be downloaded here: PPS5 and the Practice Guide.

It may seem strange that features which are not specifically mentioned in the list description are protected. However many listed buildings have only very brief descriptions which, in a way, are like the distinguishing marks section of your passport; they can help to identify but do not fully describe the building.

If you're seriously considering buying a building, talking to the building conservation officer at the local planning authority should be one of the first things you do. They will be able to advise you as to what uses, alterations or new build will be acceptable and what will require planning permission and listed building consent. You should establish this as soon as possible. Don't just assume that you will be given the green light for whatever you want to do. You don't want to end up with a building which does not suit your purposes.

STATUTORY POWERS

Statutory Powers are used far more now than they were 10 years ago but they are still pretty drastic action for a council to take. The powers are detailed within the Planning (Listed Building and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 and are briefly outlined below:

Urgent Works

Emergency repairs can be carried out by a Local Authority following an Urgent Works Notice. These repairs can only be used on vacant buildings or vacant parts of partially used buildings. The cost of these repairs can be recovered from the owners. An urgent works notice is most likely to be served where there is an immediate danger to the building and may involve making it secure, putting a temporary covering on the roof or supporting it with scaffolding. These repairs should be enough to prevent the building from collapsing before its future is resolved.

Repairs Notice

If a building is not being properly preserved the local authority can serve a repairs notice. This notice specifies work which is necessary to ensure the preservation of the building. These repairs should bring the building back into the condition it was in when it was listed, but the notice cannot be used to reinstate details lost before then.

Compulsory Purchase

If two months have elapsed since the repairs notice was served and nothing has been done by the owner to ensure the preservation of the building, compulsory purchase proceedings can begin. The owner of the building is forced to sell the building at a price agreed by the district surveyor.

In the majority of cases the threat of a repairs notice is enough to persuade an owner to either repair or sell the building. In some cases the local authority would be willing to serve a repairs notice, and if necessary a CPO, if it could identify a potential new owner with a viable use and the means and understanding to undertake sympathetic repairs. In such circumstances the local authority and the new user can enter into a legal back-to-back agreement whereby the building is immediately resold to the new user following the CPO. This prevents the local authority from being saddled with the liability of the unrestored building. This new owner can be a private individual, although you may be told otherwise.