Small jobs that need consent in a conservation area or listed building

Check if your home is listed or in a conservation area

First, check if your home is listed. Search the National Heritage List for England on the Historic England website. The listing also covers most attached structures and buildings in the historic curtilage, such as old barns and garden walls.

Then check if your home is in a conservation area. Each council publishes conservation area maps. In the Cotswolds, the councils are Cotswold, Stroud, West Oxfordshire, Tewkesbury and Wiltshire.

Listed buildings: small jobs that can need consent

Listed building consent covers alterations to the inside and the outside. It is a criminal offence to do work that needs consent without it. These small jobs can need consent.

• Replacing historic windows or doors, even with a copy.
• Changing paint colours or finishes on historic features.
• Removing or covering old plaster, panelling or floors.
• Fixing satellite dishes, alarms or lights to the front of the house.
• Changing gutters from cast iron to plastic.
• Changing a gate, fence or wall round the building.

Conservation areas: extra controls

In a conservation area, a house that is not listed has fewer controls. Most like-for-like repairs need no permission. But some rules are stricter.

• Trees: Cotswold District Council says you must give 6 weeks’ notice before work to a tree over 75mm across at 1.5 metres above the ground.
• Fences, walls and gates: the Planning Portal says you might need permission to take one down.
• Windows and doors: new ones of a similar appearance usually need no planning permission, unless an Article 4 direction removes the right.
• Article 4 directions: a council can remove permitted development rights in an area. Stroud District Council lists several areas with these directions.

What a handyman should know

A handyman is not responsible for your consent. You are. Tell the handyman if the house is listed or in a conservation area before you agree the job.

For historic features, a like-for-like repair is usually the safest approach. Keep old material where you can, and ask the council if you are not sure.

How to ask the council

Each council has a conservation team. Many offer pre-application advice, which can have a charge. Send photos and a short note of the job you want to do.

If consent is needed, wait for the decision before work starts. Keep a copy with your house papers.

Questions

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