Listed buildings

A listed building is a building or structure that has been identified as being of national architectural or historic interest. Listed buildings are included on a statutory list.

English Heritage is responsible for assessing applications and conducting surveys of buildings for inclusion in the statutory list. These buildings are known as 'heritage assets'.

Find out more by visiting the National Heritage List for England.

Further guidance and advice is available from Historic England.

On this page:

Planning guidance for work on a listed building

If you are planning for work on a listed building, we offer specific advice. This includes determining if works are likely to be acceptable or require consent.

To request advice, use the online Heritage Asset advice form below.

Heritage Asset advice form

When submitting your request, you will need to provide:

a clear location plan to identify the heritage asset
a Statement of Significance of the heritage asset
a brief statement describing the work you wish to undertake and how those works will impact the heritage asset
any specific questions you would like answered
photographs, measured survey plans, sketch proposals and other illustrative material necessary to make clear the nature of the proposed work.

You may need to submit a planning application for your works. To find out what information your application should include, download our local checklists for listed or conservation area buildings.

Buildings at risk

We maintain a register of Buildings at Risk (BAR).

Listed buildings can become at risk of being lost through a number of factors, including development, climate change or simply neglect and decay.

We aim to monitor the condition of all buildings on the statutory list. We will use the various powers available to encourage timely repair of vulnerable buildings.

Locally listed buildings

Locally listed buildings are buildings or structures of local interest or significance. These have been identified by us and defined as 'undesignated heritage assets'.

A number of locally significant buildings or structures have been identified through the process of conservation area appraisal. They can also be identified through the preparation of local distinctiveness documents as part of our planning policy guidance.

Undesignated heritage assets may also be identified through the planning process. Their significance will be taken into account when considering the relevant planning application.

At present, these buildings have no specific statutory protection. However, they are identified as being of importance in the current National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). We are also mindful of the desire to collate a list of locally listed buildings.