Grade II house with upvc & cement slate roof

EachPenny

Forumexpert wrote: »

No council is going to pursue you for changes made by the previous owner. They don't have the resources for this and it would only be detrimental to the conservation of the historic housing stock. The only time it could come back to bite you is if you submit a plan directly associated with the non-approved feature eg you want to make a modification to your cement slate roof in which case they may insist that the slates are returned to the original material as a condition for the approval of the modification.

That might be the case if you are speaking in general terms and the changes only relate to unimportant details. But it doesn't mean that action will not be taken if a council is alerted to alterations and particularly if complaints are made by others. In cases like the OP's for example, if a different sized uPVC has been put into a house where the whole neighbourhood have houses of a very similar character and features such as windows form part of that commonality.

Wablodablo

Mutton_Geoff wrote: »

I bought a grade II listed house. It was listed in the 1970s for 17th century timbers on a small part of the external part of the house. The rest of the building is essentially mid 1950s construction (Crittall windows etc).

When a house is listed, everything fixed to it is listed as well. I have a mix of cast iron and plastic gutters that are in poor condition. The historic buildings officer said I can only replace like with like so I am having to do this.

When I bought the house, an internal wall was removed with building regs approval but not historic buildings approval. At the request of my solicitor, the vendors paid for an indeminity policy but the policy is of the “let sleeping dogs lie” type in that it becomes invalid if I notify the council of the issue. Since I had a measured survey then architectural drawings for remodelling in other parts of the house then submitted for planning/historic approval, I thus rendered the policy invalid although the council don’t seem to have noticed the previous changes and have approved my own updates.

As someone else says, you fall to the whim of the listed/historic people at the council. During my application, they wanted a historic buildings report. That was another £2,600. They then wanted detailed window section drawings, that was another £2,000.

It’s no wonder people aren’t open with the council when repairing or updating listed buildings. I wouldn’t buy one again. It sounds attractive but the extra layer of beaurocracy is expensive and time consuming.

So the indemnity policy covers - legal costs, replacement, materials and labour, legal fees and any loss in property value as a result of the changes?

Surely there is a catch, seems to good to be true. :A