Listed Buildings

Many villages in District of Stratford-on-Avon are justifiably renowned for their beauty, and much of the attraction for visitors is the wealth of historic buildings and sites. Indeed, the district boasts over 3,300 listed buildings or structures. It is a privilege to own, live or work in a listed property, but with this comes responsibility. Further information can be found on the Planning Portal.

Nationally Listed Buildings

Buildings and structures of special architectural or historic interest are listed nationally by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. While buildings are graded according to their importance, the legal protection afforded is the same and applies to the whole building (including the interior) in every grade.

Finding out if a Building is Listed

The online source for finding out if a building is listed is:

• Historic England's National Heritage List for England

Listed Building Consent

When a building is listed, protection is afforded to all of the building, exterior and interior, together with anything attached to the exterior and also any outbuildings, walls or other structures within the curtilage and built before 1 July 1948. Alterations and additions carried out after the date of listing are also included. Further information is available at Historic England's advice page .

Consent is therefore required from the council for any changes that would affect the character either externally or internally of the building. It is a criminal offence to undertake any such changes without first gaining permission. If carrying out a repair or renewal to a listed building would affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest, then listed building consent will be required. Many repairs will not affect the character of the building. However, it is not true that repairs using like-for-like materials will never require consent as such repairs still may affect the special interest in the building. The removed materials may, for example, hold historic interest. However, it is worth noting that the replacement of single glazed windows with double glazed always requires consent and is often unacceptable.

Please consult a suitably qualified conservation architect before commencing work on any listed building, or use the council's pre-application advice service . There is no fee for listed building consent, but depending on the proposed nature of any works, planning permission and possibly Building Regulations may also be required, both of which do carry a charge.

If you wish to apply for listed building consent, the form can be found on the Planning Portal.

Certificates of Lawfulness

If you would like to receive confirmation that proposed works do not require listed building consent you can apply for a Certificate of Lawfulness. An application can be made online via the national Planning Portal; or the relevant national standard 1APP forms can be downloaded.

If you have already carried out the works the law does not allow you to use this process or to apply for retrospective Listed Building Consent.