Building demolitions subject to strict rules

The recent demolition of Halley’s Mill, a listed building in Dundee, has brought into sharp focus the protections in place for historic buildings in Scotland.

It has been claimed the dilapidated jute mill was flattened without listed building consent.

But a spokesman for owner Craigie Estates said an application for demolition was lodged with Dundee City Council last December.

He added a demolition warrant was granted by the council in April on the grounds of public safety.

So what are the rules? Generally speaking, before knocking down any building, there is a requirement to obtain demolition consent from the local authority’s building control department.

This ensures demolition works are carried out in a proper and safe manner and any construction materials containing asbestos are properly treated and disposed of.

However, planning permission is generally not required for the complete demolition of a building, although it would be required for partial demolition works which would materially alter the external appearance of a building.

But things become more complicated where a building is listed or if it is situated in a conservation area.

Listed buildings fall into three categories – A, B, or C – depending on the level of the building’s importance.

Although there’s no legal distinction on how each category of building will be treated by the planning system, the construed importance of a building will clearly have an impact on the likelihood of consent being granted to any significant alterations.

Even if a building is not listed, if it is situated in a conservation area then conservation area consent will be required.

Given the intention of the listing system is to protect the character of buildings with a special architectural or historic interest, you’d be forgiven for thinking that these permissions would never be granted for their demolition.

However, it has to be kept in mind that it is often the case that historic buildings will not lend themselves, at least without significant financial investment, to modern uses.

The costs of redeveloping an unused, dilapidated listed building to make it fit for a viable modern purpose will often significantly outweigh the end value of such a redeveloped building.

Although an owner will benefit from 100% non-domestic rates relief for listed buildings, that would merely scratch the surface for the overall costs in modernising a redundant historic building.

Another factor is that the condition of these buildings can become so dangerous that demolition is the only option.

A cynic might point to how often unused and dilapidated historic buildings suddenly become dangerous and require to be demolished at the start of a bank holiday weekend when building control verifiers are unable to go through the usual process.

You would not, however, expect anyone to advocate delaying demolition of a building if its condition posed a real danger to life.

This story regarding Halley’s Mill may still have some way to run.

Halley’s Mill was razed to the ground in a sudden demolition process last month

David Orr