A National Trust plaque on the brick wall of Sutton House in Hackney, between two white sash windows — Photograph: Loz Flowers (CC BY-SA 2.0)

01Planning

Heritage statements for houses in Hackney

Hackney's validation checklist asks for a heritage statement whenever development is within a conservation area, as well as for listed buildings, locally listed buildings and anything affecting their setting. With 37 conservation areas in the borough, a statement is a common requirement here. From £655, fixed before we start.

From £655

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Our fee for heritage statement: from £655, no VAT to add. Covered in full, with its own guide and fee, at fixedfeeplans.co.uk.

02The fee

One fixed fee, published

Heritage statement

from £655

The total you pay. No VAT to add.

Ask for your fixed fee

What you get

A check of whether your address is listed, locally listed or in a conservation area
A statement of significance and of the effect of your works on it
A schedule of materials and finishes, which the checklist also asks for
Photographs of the fabric your proposal touches
A PDF set out for the planning portal upload
Free amendments if the case officer asks for a revised statement before approval

Council fees are paid to Hackney and are separate from ours. A design and access statement is also required for householder applications in a conservation area, and we can write it with the heritage statement.

03How it runs

When Hackney's checklist asks for the statement

From Hackney's planning application validation checklist, read on 25 October 2026.

Georgian brick terrace with sash windows, arched fanlight doorways, stone steps and iron railings in London — Photograph: Lorenc Memaga

04Planning

Inside a conservation area, the answer is yes

Hackney's validation checklist, linked from its submit your planning application page, requires a heritage statement or heritage impact assessment when the development affects a locally or statutory listed building or its setting, a Scheduled Ancient Monument, a registered park or garden, or where the development is within a conservation area or affects its setting.

In Hackney the conservation area limb is the one that matters. The national planning data lists 37 conservation areas in the borough, against only 555 list entries, so most applicants who need a statement live in an area and not in a listed house.

A row of colour-washed Victorian terrace houses on Falkland Road in Kentish Town under a blue sky — A row of colour-washed Victorian terrace houses: the kind of street a conservation area protects as a group.Photograph: Images George Rex, CC BY-SA 2.0

05Planning

Local list, locally listed, and the checklist's wording

The checklist says the statement is needed for a locally or statutory listed building. A local listing does not give the building national protection, but it does make it a heritage asset, so a rear extension to a locally listed house triggers the same document as one to a Grade II house.

The checklist adds that a heritage statement is also needed when an application site has previously been identified as a non-designated heritage asset. We look through the council's records for your address before quoting, because earlier decisions sometimes record such an identification.

06Planning

Materials and finishes travel with it

The same checklist asks for a schedule of materials and finishes whenever the development affects a listed or locally listed building or its setting, and when it is within a conservation area or affects the setting of one. For listed building consent applications it is always required.

We write the schedule at the same time as the statement, naming bricks, slates, joinery and metalwork. That is the document the officer uses to decide whether the new work will sit quietly next to the old.

A narrow period house on Heath Street in Hampstead with a bay window, pale green render and a small front garden — A narrow period house with a bay window and pale green render.Photograph: Images George Rex, CC BY-SA 2.0

07Planning

The householder route

For a householder application, Hackney says a design and access statement is needed only if the property is in a conservation area, and the same address then needs the heritage statement. We write the two as one short document where the council allows it, so the officer finds the answer once.

08The record

Figures that shape the job

37
Conservation areas the national planning data lists for Hackney Council.
Source: planning.data.gov.uk, conservation-area dataset, checked 25 Oct 2026
555
Historic England list entries inside the Hackney planning boundary.
Source: planning.data.gov.uk, listed-building dataset, checked 25 Oct 2026
Conservation area
The checklist asks for a heritage statement or heritage impact assessment when development is within a conservation area or affects its setting.
Source: Hackney Council, Planning Application Validation Checklist, checked 25 Oct 2026
Local list
The same checklist treats a locally listed building and its setting as triggers, alongside statutory listed buildings.
Source: Hackney Council, Planning Application Validation Checklist, checked 25 Oct 2026
Materials
A schedule of materials and finishes is required for developments affecting a listed or locally listed building and for those in or near a conservation area.
Source: Hackney Council, Planning Application Validation Checklist, checked 25 Oct 2026
s.66
Where a Hackney house is listed, officers must have special regard to the building, its setting and its special features.
Source: Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, section 66, checked 25 Oct 2026
HE5
National policy: applications should include an assessment of the significance of the heritage assets affected.
Source: National Planning Policy Framework, chapter 20, checked 25 Oct 2026

09Questions

What clients ask before they instruct us

Do I need a heritage statement for a loft conversion in a Hackney conservation area?

The checklist asks for one where the development is within a conservation area. We confirm the wording that applies to your application type, then write a short statement that sits with the design and access statement.

What is a non-designated heritage asset?

It is a building or site the council has identified as having heritage interest without national designation, such as a locally listed building. The checklist asks for a statement where a site has already been identified as one.

Do I need a separate archaeological statement?

The checklist names an archaeological heritage statement for new building or ground disturbance on or next to a site of archaeological interest. It is a separate document, and we say at quote stage if your site needs it.

What does the {{price}} cover?

The statement, the schedule of materials and the photographs. Drawings are quoted separately; most Hackney clients take both.

10Boroughs

The same service in other boroughs

11Related

Kensington street lined with brick townhouses and lit streetlamps beneath an orange dusk sky

Send us the address of your house.

We look up the conservation area, listing and Article 4 position, then reply with a fixed fee. A message before 3pm is answered the same working day.

Ask for a fixed fee Call 020 7131 9703 WhatsApp