Heritage Statement outline using the heritage values

A Heritage Statement outline that survives a conservation officer's reading has one structural feature: significance comes first and the proposal comes second. Most rejected statements are written the other way round, describing the scheme and then asserting that it causes no harm. The assessment has nothing to measure against, so the conclusion is unsupported and the officer writes their own.

The order below follows Historic England's advice on statements of heritage significance and its guidance on setting. It works for a rear extension to a grade II house and for a conversion scheme in a conservation area, at very different lengths.

Identifying the assets affected

Start with a list, not a paragraph. Every designated and non-designated asset that the proposal could affect, with its designation, grade, list entry number and distance from the application site.

Sources to work through:

• the National Heritage List for England for listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens and battlefields
• the council's local list and its conservation area appraisals
• the county historic environment record for archaeology and non-designated assets
• historic maps, from tithe and enclosure mapping through the Ordnance Survey sequence
• the building itself, inspected inside and out where access allows

Curtilage is the trap. Structures within the curtilage of a listed building that pre-date 1 July 1948 are treated as part of the listing, so a coach house, a boundary wall or a privy can be listed without appearing separately on the list. Where that is arguable, say so and set out why.

Assessing significance by value

Take each asset in turn and assess it under the four values. Write about the asset rather than about the values, so the section reads as an account of the building rather than a form.

Evidential value asks what the fabric can tell us. Phasing visible in the brickwork, a blocked opening, reused timbers, below-ground potential on an undeveloped plot. Historical value covers illustrative and associative connections, from a building type that shows how an industry worked to a documented association with a person or event. Aesthetic value covers designed qualities and the accidental character that comes from age and material weathering. Communal value covers commemorative, symbolic and social meaning, which is the value most often ignored and the one that drives local objection.

Then say where the significance is concentrated. A Victorian villa may hold most of its value in the principal elevation, the entrance sequence and the two front rooms, with a later rear wing of little interest. That sentence, supported by evidence, is what makes the design case for an extension at the back.

The contribution of setting

Setting is assessed separately because it is not the same as curtilage or ownership. The staged approach in Historic England's guidance works: identify the assets whose setting might be affected, assess whether and how the setting contributes to significance, assess the effect of the proposal on that contribution, look at ways to reduce harm or improve the position, then record the decision and the reasoning.

Be concrete about what the contribution is. Intervisibility along a specific view, the experience of arrival, the relationship between a farmhouse and its former fields, the quiet of a churchyard. Photographs from stated viewpoints with a location plan carry more weight than adjectives, and an officer can check them.

Where the setting has already been eroded, say so honestly. An asset already enclosed by 1970s housing has a diminished setting, and pretending otherwise damages the credibility of the whole statement.

Describing the proposal against significance

Now introduce the scheme, element by element, in the same order as the significance assessment. For each element, state what fabric is affected, what is removed, what is reversible and what the design response is.

Illustrative example: on a grade II semi-detached house, replacement of a 1980s rear conservatory with a single-storey extension. The significance section has already established that the front elevation, the stair and the two principal rooms carry most of the value and that the rear wing is later. The proposal section then records that no historic fabric is lost beyond a modern opening, that the new junction uses a lead flashing detail reversible at the wall line, and that the extension is subordinate in height and set down from the eaves. Illustrative only, and the design response on any real building depends on what the inspection finds.

This is also where a Design and Access Statement and the heritage work should meet without repeating each other. Design reasoning lives in one, effect on significance in the other, with a cross-reference between them.

Assessing harm and stating its level

Use the language the decision maker has to use. Does the proposal cause harm to significance, and if so, is that harm substantial or less than substantial. Substantial harm is a high test and means harm that drains away or vitiates a large part of the asset's significance. Most householder and conversion schemes sit in the less than substantial band, and some cause no harm at all.

Three drafting habits that hold up under scrutiny:

1. Reach a conclusion in words rather than implying one. "The proposal causes a low level of less than substantial harm to the significance of the listed building, arising from the loss of the rear opening" is a conclusion. "The proposal respects the building" is not.
2. Tie the conclusion to the values already assessed, so the reader can trace it.
3. Record the statutory duties engaged: sections 16 and 66 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 for listed buildings and their setting, and section 72 for conservation areas.

The current National Planning Policy Framework, published on 17 August 2026 and organised by policy code, requires great weight to be given to the conservation of designated heritage assets, with harm requiring clear and convincing justification. Cite the edition you are working from and check the wording on gov.uk at the time of writing, because the Framework has been reissued twice since 2023 and older paragraph numbers no longer apply.

Public benefits, mitigation and recording

Public benefits belong after the harm conclusion so the balance is visible. List them specifically: securing an active use for a vacant building, reinstating a lost shopfront detail, repairing a structure on the local heritage at risk register, public access where none existed.

Mitigation covers design changes already made, material and detail specifications to be secured by condition, and a method statement for repairs. Recording covers what is to be documented before work starts, which for a building of interest means a written and photographic record at a level matched to significance. Historic Building Recording sets out what the levels involve, and where below-ground remains are in question an Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment should sit alongside rather than inside the heritage statement.

For a worked treatment of one asset type, a listed shopfront worked through section by section follows this structure on a specific building. If you want to draft the document and have it reviewed, a Heritage Statement draft gives you the section structure and flags the site facts it cannot know.

This is general guidance, not legal advice. Check the position with your local planning authority's conservation officer or a qualified professional before relying on it.

PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.