Royal request for red tape cut on heat pumps may change the face of listed buildings

‘Adapting these buildings to be more energy efficient is currently a complicated and costly process’

THE Queen’s property empire is lobbying for an overhaul of listed building rules that would allow heat pumps to be installed in historic buildings across London.

The Crown Estate and the Duke of Westminster’s property business, Grosvenor Group, are pushing for new regulations so it is easier to make green energy upgrades to premises with protected status. If the rules are overhauled they will be able to make changes that will affect the appearance of the West End.

As well as the pumps – an alternative to gas boilers which use electricity to draw heat from the ground or air – reform would also pave the way for the installation of double glazing and insulation.at present these upgrades require listed building consent, which can take eight weeks to complete using a process that varies hugely between councils and can cost thousands of pounds in consultancy fees. Grosvenor and the Crown Estate own swathes of London around St James’s, Soho and Regent Street. In an annual review, Grosvenor said it was lobbying to cut red tape from the listed building consent process.

Grosvenor said: “Around 500,000 buildings in England are protected by statutory listing and hundreds of thousands more are situated in conservation areas. Adapting these buildings to be more energy efficient ... is currently a complicated and costly process.” The company has formed a working group with the Crown Estate and Peabody, a social housing association, to push for change.

Grosvenor and other owners of listed buildings have called for the Government to provide more financial assistance to the landlords of historic buildings to aid retrofitting, given the high proportion of not-for-profit landlords owning older buildings. The landlord claims planning changes could cut UK carbon emissions by 5 per cent.

It is understood the Government is conducting a review into how to make installations of insulation and heat pumps for heritage buildings easier.

Mark Preston, Grosvenor’s chief executive, said: “We’re spending £90 million to retrofit our London estate. We’ll continue to lobby ... for the Government to make heritage assets more energy efficient.” The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Crown Estate were approached for comment.