Listed consent - repair vs replacement

[lagori]

My grade II listed property has a porch on the front that is, frankly, very ugly. It is also in a state of complete disrepair; most of the wood has rotted, glass panes have fallen out, and there is even a postie who has refused to enter, feeling it unsafe (a bit dramatic, but it effectively demonstrates my point). The prior owners let it fall to bits and while we'd love to replace it with something markedly nicer and in better keeping with the building (old mill, the porch is likely a 1960's addition), erring on the side of caution, I'm considering just knocking it down and putting the same up again in its place.

We have the same issue with two single-glazed windows in the house - both are made of wood, or more likely, wood hardener in the main, and are in poor condition. Both will again need replacing, and we are looking to replace them like for like.

I have spoken with someone I know who is a planner; they have stated that replacement would not be okay, but repair would be fine. However, in these instances, it's the same thing. I also understand that properties that are listed must be kept in a good state of repair - something I am trying to do.

In a separate exchange, I have spoken with someone at the planning office - it is abundantly clear that they do not actually know what is here. The listing is extremely cursory, with only the most limited detail (referring to a 'glazed conservatory/porch' - thats the whole detail). I asked them what was on the listing, and they told me it doesn't work this way, that I have to tell them what we have. They can then confirm what is listed...my concern here is that I open the door and am suddenly back to the wall for elements that they decide arbitrarily contravene their view on what should be here.

Practically speaking, can I get on and 'repair' these without having to bog everything down in paperwork, especially as I have no intent to deviate from what's already at the property? Has anyone else just cracked on when dealing with issues such as this? Has it gone OK?

We are also extremely rural - we have one neighbour (who, by coincidence, has added a porch to their listed property without consent), so the likelihood of someone noticing from the council and taking issue during the works is non-existent.

 

[Flyfisher]

In a separate exchange, I have spoken with someone at the planning office - it is abundantly clear that they do not actually know what is here. The listing is extremely cursory, with only the most limited detail (referring to a 'glazed conservatory/porch' - thats the whole detail). I asked them what was on the listing, and they told me it doesn't work this way, that I have to tell them what we have. They can then confirm what is listed...my concern here is that I open the door and am suddenly back to the wall for elements that they decide arbitrarily contravene their view on what should be here.

You can find the description for any listed building here: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/

As for what is listed, it will almost certainly be the entire building. Our C16 house suffered from some rather poor and inappropriate alterations in, I believe, the 1970s but was not listed until 1988, so even those inappropriate features were protected and required listed building consent to be changed. In practice, our conservation/historic buildings officer has been extremely helpful and consent was readily forthcoming so although being listed meant some formalities were necessary it has not been an actual obstacle - at least for the things we wanted to do.

From the Historic England website (with my emphasis): "Listing does not prevent all changes or freeze a building in time; it simply means that listed building consent must be applied for in order to make any changes to that building which might affect its character as a building of special interest. Listing status covers the entire building, so works requiring consent might include replacing windows and internal alterations, for example."

So, if you are confident that rebuilding a replica of the porch would not "affect the character of the building" you might decide to go ahead without LBC, but you would be open to having to justify your action sometime in the future including, possibly, to a future purchaser. Alternatively, you could contact the conservation/historic buildings officer in your local council and discuss your plans with them. From your description of the porch it sounds as if rebuilding it would not be a problem, but the only way to be absolutely certain is to have that discussion.

Hopefully, your CO/HBO will be as accessible and helpful as ours has been.

 

[a twig]

I’m sure I’ve recounted this story before but do with it what you will.

A stone mason friend was working on a G1 listed house and when they went to reinstate the original Bath stone fireplace following repairs to the wall behind it, the ornately carved 16th century breast was nowhere to be found. A sheepish apprentice eventually admitted to having put it in the skip…

With the CO due in two days they managed to find a photo of the original on one of their phones and the mason worked through the night doing his best to recreate it and the following day they just about managed to install it in time.

The CO duly came and did his visit, was in good spirits and signed the whole thing off, even congratulated them on managing to retain the original fireplace in such good condition…