From April 2005 important changes to the way in which historic buildings are listed were made. These changes are the first stage of a wide ranging reform of the system for protecting and managing England’s historic environment which the government intends to implement over the next few years.

Listing gives statutory protection to historic buildings against unauthorised alteration or demolition. Over more than half a century, it has proved an effective mechanism for protecting and managing change to a vast range of buildings and structures that are powerful expressions of our long history. Now the government is bringing in reforms to simplify the process and deliver greater openness and accountability.

The main changes introduced in 2005 are:

• Administration of the listing system has been transferred from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to English Heritage from 1 April 2005. Instead of applying to DCMS for listing of a building, applicants now apply directly to English Heritage. English Heritage will make an assessment of the building against set criteria, and a recommendation to list, de-list or amend the grade will be made to the Secretary of State at DCMS. The Secretary of State still makes the final decision about which buildings should be listed or delisted.
• English Heritage will now notify owners if an application to list their building is made by another party. In the past, owners were not necessarily informed that an application for listing their property had been made by another party. While in exceptional circumstances there may be good reason to withhold this information if there is an imminent threat of alteration or demolition, in almost all circumstances it is important that the property owner is made aware that an application for listing is being considered. This is now done in the vast majority of cases.
• English Heritage has begun consulting owners and local authorities on applications to list buildings. At present there is no mechanism to allow the property owner or the local planning authority (LPA) to make representations on a proposal to add a building to the list, to alter its grade or even to de-list it. The government believes that owners should be given the chance to have a say in the future of their property, as should LPAs, who have statutory responsibilities in relation to the historic buildings in their area. In future the owner and the relevant LPA will be given the opportunity to comment on whether the building meets the listing criteria, and their representations will be taken into account before the decision is made.
• English Heritage will begin to introduce clearer information for owners of listed buildings. Owners and managers of historic buildings need good and precise information about what the listing of their property means. From April 2005 English Heritage has begun to introduce new documentation for new listings. These will include a map showing the extent of the listing and a summary of the building’s importance. Information packs for owners, which will give more detailed guidance about the implications of listing and sources of expert advice will be developed over the next year and sent to all owners of newly listed buildings from April 2006.

Other changes

In addition to these new procedures there are two other significant changes to the listing system that will be introduced during 2005. These are:

• Publication of revised criteria for listing. In order to make applications to list buildings, applicants need better guidance about the criteria against which English Heritage assesses buildings for listing. So DCMS will shortly publish a consultation document on more detailed principles of selection for different building types which will eventually form the basis of revised listing criteria that will replace those currently cited in the government’s Planning Policy Guidance 15: Planning and the Historic Environment.
• A formal review process of listing decisions. At present if listing decisions are disputed DCMS has an informal process for the review of listing decisions. From April 2005 DCMS will implement a formal review procedure setting out clearly the grounds on which a case will be reviewed and the procedure to be followed.

What next?

These changes are just the start of the comprehensive reform of the system for protecting and managing the historic environment. The government has indicated its intention of integrating the currently separate systems of listing buildings, scheduling monuments and archaeological sites and registering historic parks, gardens and battlefields into a unified heritage protection system that would deliver:

• A single Register of historic sites and buildings for England that would combine the current listing, scheduling and registration regimes and incorporate World Heritage Sites. A local section of the Register would include local authority designations such as conservation areas.
• A unified heritage consent system combining listed building consent and scheduled monument consent regimes.
• Provision for statutory management agreements for complex historic assets.
• Reform of the management of the marine archaeological environment, the Ancient Monuments (Class Consents) Order (No 1) concerning ploughing on archaeological sites and the Ecclesiastical Exemption.
• Statutory status for Historic Environment Records.

Many of these further changes will require primary legislation. The government has asked English Heritage to undertake a series of pilot projects to ensure that the practical implications for a reformed system are thoroughly tested before new legislation is drafted. Our pilot projects are being undertaken in partnership with other government departments including DCMS, DEFRA and MOD as well as local authorities, owners’ groups and the historic environment sector. A list of the pilot projects can be found overleaf.

Pilot projects

These projects have been selected to test1 the application of the proposed new system to complex historic assets where a unified designation and management agreement approach would be specially beneficial. Additional projects are planned for ecclesiastical sites and the marine archaeological environment.

Arnos Vale Cemetery, Bristol
An important example of a Victorian cemetery.

Centre Point, London
One of the most iconic buildings of post-war London.

Cornish Bridges
Historic bridges in part of North Cornwall.

Darnall Works, Sheffield
A vast 19th century steelworks.

Foulness Island, Essex
Part of MOD Shoeburyness with a military history dating back to 1830.

The Godolphin Estate, Cornwall
An ancient estate with a nationally important house, gardens, park and historic landscape.

Holkham Estate, Norfolk
One of England’s greatest country houses set in a large historic estate where the natural, agricultural and historic environment need to be managed together.

Kenilworth Castle, Abbey and Mere, Warwickshire
A site in mixed ownership including English Heritage.

Langdale Neolithic Landscape, Cumbria
A nationally important archaeological landscape.

Piccadilly Line, London Underground
Listed underground stations.

RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire
One of the most significant military airfields displaying Britain’s 20th century defence history.

University of East Anglia, Norwich
An outstanding example of a modern university with nationally important post-war buildings, undergoing rapid expansion.

Water Meadows, Hampshire
A historic irrigation system on the banks of the River Itchen at Eastleigh.

The Weld Estate, Dorset
A large ancient estate, including part of a World Heritage Site, that requires the historic environment to be managed alongside the farming, wildlife and tourist operations.

York City Walls, York
A complex of archaeological sites, buildings and designed landscape at the heart of one of England’s most important cities

For further information contact:

DCMS website www.culture.gov.uk
DCMS email listing@culture.gsi.gov.uk

English Heritage website www.english-heritage.org.uk

English Heritage
Heritage Protection Team

e-mail for general Heritage Protection enquiries
hprt@english-heritage.org.uk

e-mail for listing enquiries
hpoperations@english-heritage.org.uk

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