Georgian brick terrace on Bedford Square in Bloomsbury, with arched doorways, sash windows and black iron railings — Photograph: Steve Cadman from London, U.K. (CC BY-SA 2.0)

01Design and heritage reports

A repair specification for your listed or period London house

Rotten sashes, failing pointing, a leaking parapet: the builder needs to know what to do, and the conservation officer needs to know what you will not be doing. We write the repair schedule both can follow, with the materials, the method and the extent of each repair, and we say which items need consent. From £755, for grade II houses and houses in conservation areas. Part of our design and heritage reports.

From £755

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02The fee

One fixed fee, published

Listed building repair specification

from £755

The total you pay. No VAT to add.

Ask for your fixed fee

What you get

A survey of the fabric and a numbered schedule of repairs, room by room and elevation by elevation
The material for each repair, and the method, written so a builder can price it
The extent of each repair: how much to replace and how much to keep
Which items are like-for-like and which need listed building consent
A conservation repair method statement for the officer
Photographs of each defect, keyed to the schedule

For grade II listed houses and houses in conservation areas. Grade I and II* buildings are quoted in writing before you commit. Our fee carries no VAT to add; a listed building consent application has no council fee.

03How it runs

From a survey to a schedule a builder can price

The schedule is written in the order a builder works, so each repair is priced against the same words the officer reads.

Red-brick mansion blocks and shopfronts on a street corner — Photograph: Tom McCarten

04Design and heritage reports

Like-for-like repair, and when it needs consent

Listed building consent is needed for works that alter or extend a listed building in a way that would affect its character, and for demolition (section 7 of the 1990 Act). Government guidance describes works that do not affect that character as needing no consent. A repair that restores what was there, in the same material and by the same method, is usually in that group.

The edge is where the trouble starts. Cement pointing over lime, uPVC for a rotten sash, a new tile on an old roof slope: each looks like a repair and each can affect character. The specification draws the line item by item. It marks each repair as like-for-like or as an item to discuss with the council first, so you are not guessing.

A National Trust plaque on the brick wall of Sutton House in Hackney, between two white sash windows — Brick and sash windows at Sutton House in Hackney: the pointing, the sash putty and the paint are all repair items.Photograph: Loz Flowers, CC BY-SA 2.0

05Design and heritage reports

What the schedule contains

Each line gives the element, the defect, the cause, the repair and the standard of work. A rotten sash cill might read: cut out the decayed timber to sound wood, piece in matching timber, prime and paint to the existing finish. A failed mortar joint: rake out to a stated depth, repoint in lime of a specified mix.

Specific lines make a fair tender. Three builders pricing the same schedule can be compared like with like, and the officer can see exactly what will be touched. A vague line, such as "repair windows", invites a quote for replacing them.

One line, five answers. The same wording is used in the method statement.

06Design and heritage reports

The method statement the officer reads

The repair method statement is included. It sets out how the work will be done and in what order, how the historic fabric will be protected while it is open, and who will do the specialist items. A conservation officer reading it can see that the builder has been told what to do and what not to do.

Councils must have special regard to the desirability of preserving the building or its setting when they decide listed building consent. A statement that shows care in the repair, rather than a bare list of items, makes that regard easy to give. It also helps if an officer later asks what was done.

A yellow-brick house front on Canonbury Square in Islington: a black door under a fanlight, a green plaque and an arched sash window behind iron railings — Canonbury Square, Islington: a yellow-brick front, a fanlight and iron railings, where the repair method matters as much as the repair.Photograph: DAVID HOLT from London, England, CC BY 2.0

07Design and heritage reports

Repair is not the same as a heritage statement

A heritage statement supports an application. It explains what the building is and why a proposed change is acceptable. A repair specification comes after consent, or where none is needed: it tells the builder how to carry out the work. If your scheme has both a change and repairs, you may need the two, and we keep them consistent.

If you are still deciding what to change, listed building consent drawings come first. Once consent is granted and a condition asks for method or materials, our work on discharging planning conditions can use the schedule as its evidence.

08Design and heritage reports

Grade I and II* houses: quoted, not stretched

Grade I and II* buildings are the highest-significance listed buildings, and their repair often involves a specialist trade such as stone, timber frame or decorative plaster. The schedule takes longer and the fabric needs closer study, so we do not stretch the published fee to cover it. We quote the work in writing before you commit.

For grade II and conservation-area houses, the published fee applies. The more serious the harm to a designated asset, the more weight the planning system gives it: policy HE6 says harm is of considerable importance, and substantial harm to a grade II building should be exceptional.

Georgian terrace of dark brick houses with white sash windows, black railings and roof dormers, a red cargo bike parked outside — A Georgian terrace of dark brick, with sash windows and dormers: specialist trades are brought in where the building calls for them.Photograph: Richard Symonds, CC BY-SA 4.0

09The record

Figures that shape the job

s7
Listed building consent covers demolition, and any alteration or extension that would affect the character of a listed building.
Source: Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, section 7, checked 29 Oct 2026
2 years
Works to a listed building without consent can bring up to two years in prison, or a fine, on conviction on indictment.
Source: Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, section 9, checked 17 Oct 2026
Special regard
The duty on a decision-maker to have special regard to the desirability of preserving a listed building or its setting.
Source: Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, section 16(2), checked 29 Oct 2026
£0
Applying for listed building consent costs nothing in council fees, as it is one of the applications the national table exempts.
Source: Ribble Valley Borough Council, national fee table from 1 April 2026, checked 17 Oct 2026
Optional
A certificate of lawfulness for proposed works to a listed building is not required, but is available if you are unsure whether consent is needed.
Source: GOV.UK, Planning practice guidance: Conserving and enhancing the historic environment, checked 29 Oct 2026
HE5(1)
The policy that asks an applicant to describe the significance of the heritage assets affected, in proportion to their importance.
Source: National Planning Policy Framework, chapter 20, checked 29 Oct 2026
HE6(3)
Under the NPPF, any harm to a designated heritage asset is a matter of considerable importance and weight when a decision is made.
Source: National Planning Policy Framework, chapter 20, checked 29 Oct 2026
Exceptional
Substantial harm to a grade II listed building should be exceptional; for the highest-significance assets, wholly exceptional.
Source: National Planning Policy Framework, policy HE6(6), checked 29 Oct 2026

10Questions

What clients ask before they instruct us

Do I need listed building consent to repair my listed house?

Not always. Consent is needed for works that would affect the building's character; repair that restores what was there, in the same material and method, usually does not. The line is a judgment on the facts, so the specification marks each item, and you can ask the council or apply for a certificate of lawfulness if you want certainty.

What if the repair is to a house in a conservation area but not listed?

The specification is written the same way. Listed building consent does not apply to an unlisted house, but some changes may still need planning permission, and the schedule flags them. We check your address for any removal of rights before we write it.

Can the builder use the schedule to price the job?

Yes, that is its purpose. Each line states the material, the method and the extent, so tenders can be compared. We do not price the work or manage the contract unless you ask for a separate quote.

Is a repair specification the same as a heritage statement?

No. A heritage statement supports an application by explaining significance and the effect of a change. The specification tells a builder how to repair, and the officer how the fabric will be treated. See our heritage statement page for the difference.

My house is grade I or II*. Can you still help?

Yes. We quote the specification in writing before you commit, because those buildings take closer study and often specialist trades, and the published fee is set for grade II.

Does the fee include a visit?

Yes, a survey visit is part of it, as repairs cannot be specified from photographs alone. You get the date and the fee in writing before we start.

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.

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