01Planning
Richmond upon Thames, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Heritage statements for houses in Richmond upon Thames
Richmond's new validation checklist took effect on 20 February 2026 and it sets a six-point recipe for a heritage statement, including a summary of what the Greater London Historic Environment Record holds for your site. It also counts the council's own Buildings of Townscape Merit as heritage assets, which many owners do not realise. From 拢655, fixed before we start.
From 拢655
- MCIAT chartered architectural technologists
- 拢2m professional indemnity insurance
- LABC Partnered
- ICO registered
Our fee for heritage statement: from 拢655, no VAT to add. Covered in full, with its own guide and fee, at fixedfeeplans.co.uk.
02The fee
One fixed fee, published
What you get
- A check for listed status, conservation area, Buildings of Townscape Merit and Article 4 on your plot
- A summary of what the Historic Environment Record holds for the site
- A statement of significance and a summary of your proposal
- An assessment of impact, with the reasons the design limits harm
- A room-by-room schedule of works for listed buildings
- Free amendments if the case officer asks for a revised statement before it is decided
Council fees are paid to Richmond and are separate from our fee. Detail drawings for listed buildings and conservation areas are part of the drawing package, not of the statement.
03How it runs
The six points in Richmond's checklist
85
Conservation areas the national planning data lists for the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Source: planning.data.gov.uk
04Planning
What the 2026 checklist adds
Item 13 of Richmond's Local Validation Checklist asks for a heritage statement for any application affecting a designated or non-designated heritage asset, or its setting. Designated means listed buildings, conservation areas, World Heritage Sites, registered parks and gardens and scheduled monuments.
The list of non-designated assets is the useful part. It includes Buildings of Townscape Merit, which the council designates itself, and Archaeological Priority Areas. A house with no listing and no conservation area can still be one, and the statement is then required.
05Planning
Village Planning Guidance and appraisals
The checklist asks proposals to show how they comply with the relevant conservation area appraisals, with the Village Planning Guidance supplementary planning documents and with any other adopted guidance. Richmond publishes Village Planning Guidance for individual villages, so the answer can change from one street to the next.
We read the appraisal and the village guidance for your street before writing, and quote the passages that bear on the work, so the officer finds the answer in the statement and not in a request for information.
06Planning
A statement that fits the asset
The checklist asks for detail proportionate to the importance of the asset and no more than is sufficient to understand the effect. A rear extension to a Building of Townscape Merit in a quiet street gets a short, exact statement. A Grade I house gets a long one.
The council's separate guidance on heritage statements, a leaflet dated 16 February 2017 that it still links, adds that harm to a designated asset needs public benefits that outweigh it. We follow it where it agrees with the 2026 checklist and with national policy, and the checklist where the two differ.
07Planning
Listed buildings: the schedule and the structure
For a listed building the checklist adds a room-by-room schedule of internal and external works, and detailed drawings at 1:20 or larger for new doors, windows and shopfronts. Where a basement, a lowered floor or structural change is proposed, it also asks for a structural impact assessment. The national planning data lists 85 conservation areas and 819 list entries in the borough, the highest conservation area count of the eight prime boroughs we cover.
08The record
Figures that shape the job
85
Conservation areas the national planning data lists for the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.
Source: planning.data.gov.uk, conservation-area dataset, checked 25 Oct 2026
819
Historic England list entries inside the Richmond upon Thames planning boundary.
Source: planning.data.gov.uk, listed-building dataset, checked 25 Oct 2026
20 Feb 2026
The date the council's current Local Validation Checklist came into effect, after a public consultation.
Source: London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Make a planning application, checked 25 Oct 2026
Item 13
The checklist item that requires a heritage statement for any application affecting a designated or non-designated heritage asset or its setting.
Source: London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Local Validation Checklist for All Applications, February 2026, checked 25 Oct 2026
6
The points a Richmond heritage statement must always include, from the assets affected to the justification of the effect.
Source: London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Local Validation Checklist for All Applications, February 2026, checked 25 Oct 2026
16 Feb 2017
The date of the council's separate guidance leaflet on heritage statements, which the council still links.
Source: London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Heritage Statements guidance, checked 25 Oct 2026
HE5
National policy asks for an assessment of significance proportionate to the asset's importance.
Source: National Planning Policy Framework, chapter 20, checked 25 Oct 2026
09Questions
What clients ask before they instruct us
What is a Building of Townscape Merit?
It is a building the council has designated for its contribution to the local townscape without listing it nationally. Richmond's checklist treats it as a non-designated heritage asset, so works affecting one need a heritage statement.
Is the Historic Environment Record the same as the list?
No. The Greater London Historic Environment Record holds archaeological and historic information beyond the national list. The checklist asks for a summary of what it holds for your site, and we obtain that as part of the statement.
Did the checklist change recently?
Yes. The council says its new checklist took effect on 20 February 2026. Statements written before then may not follow the six points we set out.
Do you cover Kew, Twickenham and Barnes?
Yes, all of them. They sit within Richmond upon Thames, so the same checklist applies, and the village guidance changes by area.
10Boroughs
The same service in other boroughs
11Related
Related services and guides
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.