Listed building and conservation area check

What listing means

Historic England lists buildings of special architectural or historic interest in three grades: Grade I, Grade II* and Grade II. Most listed homes are Grade II. The check shows the grade where the list records it.

Listed building consent is needed for works that affect the building’s character, inside or out, and carrying out such works without it is a criminal offence.

What a conservation area means

Councils designate conservation areas to protect the character of a place. Inside one you need permission to demolish most buildings, permitted development rights are narrower, and you must give the council six weeks’ notice before cutting down or pruning most trees.

Some councils go further with an Article 4 direction, which removes specific permitted development rights.

Scheduled monuments and world heritage sites

Scheduled monuments are nationally important sites, and most works on them need scheduled monument consent. World heritage sites and their buffer zones carry extra weight in planning decisions. The check reports both if they apply to the address.

Before you buy a listed home

Ask the seller for the listed building consents behind any past alterations, and your conveyancer will check them. Work done without consent can become the new owner’s problem.

Questions

How do I find out if a house is listed?

Enter the house number and postcode on this page. The check looks the address up in the listed building data on planning.data.gov.uk, which comes from Historic England’s National Heritage List for England.

How do I check if a property is in a conservation area?

The same check shows any conservation area the address falls in, using the boundaries councils publish to planning.data.gov.uk. A few councils have not published theirs yet, so if in doubt ask the council.

Does the heritage check cover Wales?

No. The heritage data covers England only. Cadw holds the list of historic buildings in Wales.

Is the listed building check free?

Yes. It uses free government data, with no account and no email needed.