Heritage Statement
Identifies the heritage assets a scheme affects, explains what makes each of them significant, and assesses honestly what your proposal would do to that significance.
When
When your council will require it
- Any work to a listed building
- Development in a conservation area
- Development within the setting of a listed building, scheduled monument or registered park
- Sites with archaeological potential
Contents
What is in it
- 01Which heritage assets are affected, designated and undesignated
- 02A statement of significance for each one
- 03The impact of the proposal on that significance, proportionate to how important the asset is
- 04Whether any harm is less than substantial or substantial, and where in that range
- 05The public benefits weighed against any harm
- 06How harm has been avoided, reduced or mitigated
Authority
What makes it necessary
Sections 66 and 72 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 place duties on the decision-maker. Listed building entries are checked against the National Heritage List for England: the entry number, the grade and the name must all match the live record before a citation is allowed through.
Price
What it costs
This document is not priced on its own. It is part of the fixed fee for the application it supports, and a case producing three documents costs the same as a case producing one. On a householder application that fee is £499, with your council’s statutory fee passed on separately at cost.
A shorter research draft of this document is also available for credits, for your own use. It is clearly marked on every page as not for submission, and it carries nobody’s signature.
Questions
Questions
My house is in a conservation area but is not listed. Do I need one?
Usually yes. The duty under section 72 applies to the character and appearance of the area, not only to listed buildings, and most councils list a heritage statement on their validation checklist for conservation-area work.
How do you know what my listed building's entry says?
It is read from the National Heritage List for England at the moment of drafting. If the entry number, grade or name in a draft does not match the live record, the draft fails rather than shipping.
Start here
Does your site need a heritage statement?
Draw a boundary and the appraisal tells you which documents your route and your constraints require, before you commit to anything.