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Double glazing and a Grade II listed building.

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  • anselld
    anselld Posts: 8,646 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 27 May 2015 at 7:37PM
    The thing about listed building consent, more so than other planning issues, is that it is down to the whim of the local conservation officer. There is no point asking for experience here as every case and every area is different.

    As others have stated the only way is to discuss with the local authority.
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    You'll need Listed Permission and to have English Heritage sniffing round too. You'd need to submit details of precisely what you wanted - and they might just say "No. Not ever".

    Although the windows might not be original, they might still be listed. Many (all?) are to be kept as they were on the date they became listed.

    There's even the chance the last ones were installed illegally and not only will you get a "No", but they might make you reinstall what was there before (worse than what you've got).

    On the other hand, it might be other parts of the building listed and not the windows, so you'd be able to do it.

    Only way to find out is to start the process.

    Expect it to take you a year and to cost double what you thought.
  • t0rt0ise
    t0rt0ise Posts: 4,478 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 27 May 2015 at 9:13PM
    My Housing Association home is listed and has just been refurbished. Planning permission was granted. A small window at the back has been replaced with a double glazed unit but the larger windows and ones at the front had to be of the same design as replaced, and secondary glazing added. Secondary glazing is great for both sound and heat saving. It's perfect.

    The council would advise what you would need permission for. They aren't against you, they simply want the house to be kept looking original. If they want you to replace the windows back to original design the house will look better for it.
  • SG27
    SG27 Posts: 2,773 Forumite
    It's unlikely that you'll get large sash windows double glazed it would effect the character too much. Just because they are large doesnt mean they arent original. Your best bet would be to have a chat with the conservation officer they will be able to tell you if you have a chance or if you are wasting your time.

    And to correct a previous poster, ALL the house is listed including any outbuilding built before 1947 (If I remember rightly) this includes any modern extentions, modern windows.
  • paddytt
    paddytt Posts: 302 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    AFAIK doible glazing also prevents older houses from "breathing". Because they didn't have large sheets of thick plastic back then, the damp proof course were either fairly basic or non-existent. If you stop the house from breathing, you risk condensation and damp problems, which in turn can damage the structure of the house.

    Good luck (to the house that is!)

    paddy
  • phoebe1989seb
    phoebe1989seb Posts: 4,452 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper

    On the other hand, it might be other parts of the building listed and not the windows, so you'd be able to do it.

    As SG27 correctly states, the whole property is covered (and is therefore affected) by the listing.....that includes everything within the curtiledge :o
    Mortgage-free for fourteen years!

    Over £40,000 mis-sold PPI reclaimed
  • Doozergirl
    Doozergirl Posts: 34,076 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Thanks for the replies. The windows are definitely not originals! They are not necessarily a problem, especially not in terms of us buying the house without doing the research beforehand, but I was just hoping for a head's-up from someone who's been there and done it, prior to digging deeper with the planning department.

    You will exceptionally 'lucky' to be given double glazing. Conservation officers will usually give permission for DG in brand new openings, but not existing ones. Some will allow incidental type windows to be DG, and some local authorities are more lenient than others and will allow expensive slim DG units to be used.

    If you go hard enough at them, they may consider more on a window by window basis. We owned and worked on many listed buildings and Inam currently working in the only one where someone has managed to wangle any DG. We are nearly seven months into the process with the city council; the window company is very expensive and the man who owns it is like the ultimate salesman and appears to be wearing down the Historic England consultant frame by frame. Even then, we have one withdrawn application and another full application to follow.

    If your metal windows were in when the house was listed, it's likely to be what they request unless there are some originals remaining for reference, somewhere. As it happens, crittal windows are achingly fashionable right now. :)
    Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
  • Landofwood
    Landofwood Posts: 765 Forumite
    Thanks for the replies. The windows are definitely not originals! They are not necessarily a problem, especially not in terms of us buying the house without doing the research beforehand, but I was just hoping for a head's-up from someone who's been there and done it, prior to digging deeper with the planning department.

    You gave the impression in your first post that getting approved for double glazing was a formality. I may have read too much into the short paragraph you typed!

    The truth is there's a very good chance you'll never be able to put double glazed windows in, which is why I was surprised you hadn't researched this before buying.
  • Must confess one reason I didn't buy a house I was interested that had some sort of "listing" or other on it (think it was "conservation area" - rather than the house itself listed iyswim) was the house didn't have double-glazed windows and I wasn't sure whether that "conservation area" status might mean I might not be able to have them (yes....that's even though the house opposite had double-glazing - but I wasn't going to risk finding out that he got allowed on the basis of "not what you know but who you know" - but I'm not a local and might get treated differently).
  • SG27
    SG27 Posts: 2,773 Forumite
    I don't have any double glazing and I'm perfectly happy. To be honest I wouldn't even bother putting it in even if I could. I'm sure you get used to it.
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