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The brick front of a Georgian terraced townhouse with tall sash windows and arched front doors

Heritage statements from £565

Listed house or conservation area? The council needs to see you understand what makes it special before it lets you change it. We write that statement for a fixed fee.

£565 fixed fee, no VAT to add

Get a fixed fee for your house

We will send your fixed fee here.

Handy if a quick call is easier.

We check conservation areas and other limits for this address.

In a sentence or two: your plans, and any feedback from the council so far.

Optional. PDF, JPG, PNG, HEIC or DWG. Up to 10 files, 28 MB in total.

Write before 3pm and you hear back that working day.

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The short answer

A heritage statement describes the significance of a listed building or conservation area and explains how your proposal affects it. Councils ask for one with listed building consent applications and with many applications in conservation areas. Our fee is £565, no VAT to add, with no council fee for listed building consent.

Heritage statement

from £565

Fixed fee
£565
VAT
None to add
  • A desk study of the building’s history, listing description, planning history and the conservation area appraisal
  • A written assessment of significance: what is special about the building and its setting
  • An assessment of how your proposal affects that significance, with justification
  • Photographs and plan extracts that show the features you refer to, captioned for the officer
  • A statement set out so it can sit inside or beside a design and access statement without repeating it
  • A final read for accuracy before it is attached to your application

£565. A starting fee: we confirm one fixed figure after checking your address. The council’s own fee, where there is one, is paid to the council.

Get my fixed fee

Our fee here is £565, no VAT to add. The main page for this service is on our sister site Fixed Fee Plans, run by the same team.

How a heritage statement is written

  1. Read the designation

    We obtain the listing entry or conservation area appraisal and the planning history for your address.

  2. Inspect

    We look at the building and its setting, and note the features the proposal touches.

  3. Assess significance

    We describe what makes the building important: age, plan form, materials, detail and its place in the street.

  4. Assess impact

    We set the proposal against that significance and explain what is retained, altered or lost, and why.

  5. Attach and submit

    The statement goes with the drawings in the application, whether we are drawing them or not.

Why the council asks for one

Applicants are expected to describe the significance of any heritage assets affected, including any contribution made by their setting, according to the Planning Practice Guidance. The level of detail should be proportionate to the asset’s importance and no more than is sufficient to understand the potential impact of the proposal.

That is why a heritage statement for a rear extension to a plain Victorian house in a conservation area can be a few pages, while one for a Georgian listed townhouse runs longer. We write to the proportion the guidance asks, so the officer finds what they need without wading through it.

What the statement has to cover

Significance is the value of a heritage asset because of its heritage interest, and the guidance names four: archaeological, architectural, artistic and historic. We look at each in turn, because an alteration can harm the plan form of a building while leaving its facade alone.

Then comes impact. For a listed building, the council must have special regard to preserving the building or its setting; in a conservation area it must pay special attention to preserving or enhancing its character or appearance. The statement answers those duties directly.

  • Archaeological, architectural, artistic and historic interest, each assessed
  • The setting: the street, the neighbours and the views that matter
  • What your proposal keeps, changes or removes, and the public benefit if there is harm

Listed building consent and the cost of getting it wrong

Work that changes the character of a listed building needs listed building consent, separate from planning permission. There is no council fee for listed building consent, according to the GOV.UK fees guidance, but the application still needs the statement and the drawings.

Doing the work without consent is a criminal offence under section 9 of the 1990 Act, punishable on indictment by up to two years in prison or a fine.

Design and access statement · Planning permission drawings

Heritage rules in numbers

Questions about heritage statements

Do I need one for every project in a conservation area?

Not always. It depends on your council’s validation list and the scale of the work. A small rear extension may need only a short note, and we tell you what your council asks for before you pay for the full statement.

Is a heritage statement the same as a design and access statement?

No, but the guidance allows them to be combined where both are needed, to avoid repetition. We write them to fit together. See design and access statements.

Source: Planning Practice Guidance: conserving and enhancing the historic environment (GOV.UK)

Who writes the statement, and is it independent?

We do, from the documents and an inspection. If your building is of the highest importance, or the work is large, the council may ask for a specialist heritage consultant, and we say so at the start.

Will the statement guarantee consent?

No statement can promise a decision. Its job is to give the officer accurate information so the decision is made on the facts.

Show the council you know the building

Send the address and what you want to change. We reply with the scope and a fixed fee, from £565.

Get my fixed feeCall 020 7131 9705