The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Money
Maintaining a historic home means a hefty price tag – or does it?
Maintaining a listed home is more pricey – but there are ways to keep the bills down, writes Alexandra Goss
It was the neo- gothic window in the hallway that made Nancy Parker fall in love with her home, a Grade II listed house built from honey- coloured Cotswold stone and dating from the 17th century.
“It didn’t matter that it had damp and needed new foundations and a new roof,” she said. “I just adored the charm and history of the place.”
Ms Parker isn’t the only one falling for historic properties: 8,932 listed homes were bought in England and Wales in 2020, the highest figure for at least five years, according to Hamptons estate agency. The majority were in the South of England. The South West accounted for 24pc of sales, followed by the South East at 20pc.
David Fell, of Hamptons, said listed property sales had been driven by the rush to relocate after lockdowns. “It has been caused by more people moving from towns and cities into the countryside in search of more space.”
A listing celebrates a property’s historic and architectural importance and grants it protections. Almost 92pc of England’s estimated 500,000 listed buildings are Grade II, “of special architectural or historic interest”. Less than 6pc are Grade II* – “particularly important” – while Grade I, accounting for 2.5pc of listed buildings, are those of “exceptional interest”. In most cases, the listing protects the entire building and modern extensions. It can also include outbuildings, walls and statues.
Listed homes are 22pc more expensive than their non-listed equivalent by property type, according to Hamptons. And due to their age, listed properties tend to be more expensive to maintain, while doing any work requires navigating what can feel like a sea of red tape.
Yet this is offset by the value of the property itself, if done to a good standard, said Andrew Cronan, of Strutt & Parker estate agency. “As an owner of a listed house, you are a custodian of a piece of history and a property that stands out against others.” But there are also plenty of ways to reduce bills.
FINANCING
Any demolition, extensions or alterations will require listed building consent; unauthorised works are treated as a criminal offence, punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment or an unlimited fine. You also inherit unauthorised work undertaken by previous owners and may have to reverse the alteration. This can make it more difficult to get a mortgage.
One investment banker buying a large listed property in Knightsbridge last year had his mortgage application rejected because unapproved works had been carried out. Jo Eccles, of Eccord, a London property search and management company, commissioned an architectural report costing £3,000 to ascertain what needed doing to the house to make it compliant.
“This gave the bank – and our client – the comfort they needed to move forward, and we also managed to negotiate a discount of £ 250,000 on the purchase price,” Ms Eccles said.
RENOVATING
Ms Parker spent six years overhauling her five- bedroom home outside Painswick, in Gloucestershire, which she shares with daughters Birdy, 10, Georgia, 7, and Cecily, 5, plus their dog, Malo, and cat, Aloysius.
“The roof became a sticking point with the planning officers, because they were insisting either on replacements of the horrible 1960s concrete tiles or on Cotswold stone tiles, which would have been extortionately expensive,” said Ms Parker, who runs a textile business, Nancy Parker Studio, and cofounded the fabrics brand Parker & Jules. “I wanted to replace the roof with reconstituted slates that looked just like Cotswold stone, and was granted permission after I appealed.”
Sometimes, renovations will need to remedy unsympathetic past work, said Becky Wootton, at Architecture for London, a design firm. “If a historic building has had cement pointing added, we will replace it with lime mortar, which is what would have been used in the past,” she said. It costs about
£4.50 to £9.50 per sq ft to make these repairs. Renovation costs for listed buildings are subject to VAT at 20pc, but there is an exemption, explained Marc Schneiderman, of Arlington Residential estate agency.
“If a listed property can be proven to be empty for two years and the homeowner completes any work within one year of purchasing the property, the VAT is reduced to 5pc.”
These can often be contentious, as changing them can significantly alter the aesthetic of a property. However, there is plenty that listed homeowners can do to improve them.
If you have rattling single panes, the first step is to ensure they are draughtproofed and restored. To enhance energy efficiency and improve sound insulation, secondary glazing is preferred by heritage officers and there are now good, unobtrusive options, said Charlie Taylor of estate agent Knight Frank.
It is trickier to gain consent for double glazing, but success depends largely on the condition of the windows, said Ms Wootton. “If you have single- glazed sash windows in good condition, you’re unlikely to get permission to replace them with double glazing, whereas if they’re rotten your chances are much higher.”
When it comes to listed buildings, heritage officers often prefer modern extensions to period pastiches. Grade II listings do not usually present any problems, with planners happy to agree to sympathetic improvements, said Charlie Wells, of buying agency Prime Purchase.
“Grade I or Grade II* listed buildings are trickier, but one client recently got agreement for an extension to their Grade I listed house, largely because he plans to remove a 1980s extension and replace it with something which, architecturally, is a vast improvement.”
If you are unable to gain consent for an extension, Dawn Carritt, at Jackson- Stops estate agency, suggested adding a free-standing garden room or studio. “The soil is not listed, and by not attaching the new building to the original period property, there may well be a better chance of obtaining planning consent and getting the conservatory, gym or office required,” she explained.
INSULATING AND HEATING
The thick walls of old buildings can be very efficient at keeping rooms cool over summer and warm in the winter.
Edward Heaton, of buying agency Heaton & Partners, said: “A newly refurbished listed building shouldn’t really cost much more to maintain than an equivalent new-build house.”
First, look at insulation in the roof and, if possible, the walls. Wootton recommends wool fibre insulation, which is breathable and allows moisture in the air to circulate. You should also block draughts – around windows, under doors and even the letterbox.
According to Historic England, heat pumps, which run off electricity and are cheaper and more environmentally friendly than gas, oil or LPG, are well- suited to historic buildings because they work efficiently when run at a constant low temperature and mean a building heats up and cools down more slowly, reducing the risk of cracking. An air source heat pump takes heat from outside and emits it into the building, heating the space or hot water. Ground source heat pumps, buried in the garden, are more efficient but need a larger installation space.
The Energy Saving Trust said an air- source heat pump would cost £ 9,000 to £ 11,000 to install, compared with £14,000 to £19,000 for a ground-source heat pump. Groundsource heat pumps and air-to-water heat pumps qualify for payments under the Government’s Renewable Heat Inventive, while, under the under- threat Green Homes Grant programme, householders can claim up to £5,000 for energy-saving home improvements, including insulation, heat pumps, draught- proofing and secondary glazing.
Ms Parker and her daughters enjoy toasty underfloor heating, thanks to the new central heating and air-source heat pump. There is also a rainwater harvesting system to flush the lavatories. She is now so enamoured of listed buildings that she is selling up for £2m through Hamptons to look for another historic property, and has not ruled out taking on another huge project. “It’s like childbirth – you forget what it was really like and want to do it again straight away.”
‘As an owner of a listed house, you’re custodian of a piece of history and a home that stands out’ EXTENDING
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