Listed building consent orders and local orders

A listed building consent order grants listed building consent for described works without an application, in the same way that a development order grants planning permission. There are two kinds: national orders made by the Secretary of State, and local listed building consent orders made by a local planning authority for buildings in its area. Both were introduced into the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 by the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, at sections 26C and 26D.

Almost nobody uses them. That is worth understanding before you assume an order covers the works you are about to start.

What a consent order does and who makes it

An order specifies descriptions of works and grants consent for works falling within those descriptions, subject to any conditions the order imposes. Where the works are within the description and the conditions are met, no application is needed and no decision is made.

That is a different mechanism from a heritage partnership agreement, which is an agreement with named parties about a particular building or group of buildings. An order operates generally, on a class of works and a class of buildings, and anyone whose works fall within it can rely on it.

One point of correction, because the phrase persists. Conservation area consent was abolished in 2013 and replaced by planning permission for relevant demolition, so there is no such thing as a conservation area consent order. Demolition in a conservation area is a planning matter and orders under the 1990 Act do not touch it.

National orders against local orders

The practical difference is who bears the risk of getting the description wrong. A national order carries central government's judgement about what is safe to permit across the whole listed stock, which is a formidable drafting problem, and that is the main reason national orders have not materialised.

A local order narrows the problem. An authority with 400 listed buildings, a good conservation area appraisal set and a stable local vernacular can describe works that are safe in its own area with far more confidence than anyone can nationally.

Making a local order and the procedure involved

The procedure is set by regulations and follows the general shape of a local development order.

1. The authority identifies the works it wants to permit and the buildings or classes of building to which the order will apply.
2. It prepares a draft order with a statement explaining what the order does and why, and its relationship to the development plan and to conservation area appraisals.
3. It publicises the draft and consults, which in practice means Historic England where the order could affect buildings of higher grade, together with amenity societies and the public.
4. It considers representations, amends if necessary, and adopts the order.
5. The Secretary of State retains reserve powers, including to direct that an order is not adopted and to revoke one after adoption.

The evidence base is the barrier. An order describing works as consented has to rest on an understanding of significance across the affected stock, otherwise the authority is permitting works to buildings it has not assessed. That is expensive work for a conservation team already handling applications, and it is the reason local orders remain uncommon.

Authorities that have got closest have started narrow. One building type, one class of works, one clearly defined area.

Classes of works typically covered

Where orders or draft orders have been prepared, the descriptions cluster around works that are repetitive and specifiable:

• reinstatement of traditional shopfront elements to an agreed pattern in a defined shopping street
• like-for-like repair and repointing in a specified mortar mix and joint profile
• reinstatement of traditional window patterns and glazing bars where the existing is a later unsympathetic replacement
• removal of modern accretions such as cement render, plastic rainwater goods or applied signage
• internal removal of modern partitions and finishes of no significance
• reinstatement of roof coverings in the traditional material

Notice the pattern. Orders work best for putting things back rather than for changing them, because reinstatement to an evidenced pattern requires much less judgement about significance than alteration does.

Shopfronts are the obvious candidate, and the constraints a council already applies to shopfronts in conservation areas provide the descriptive language an order can borrow. Repointing is the other, where the argument every time concerns the mix, and why cement mortar is refused is settled knowledge that can be written into a specification once.

Conditions that can attach to an order

An order can impose conditions, and the conditions are what make a broad description safe.

The common structures are familiar. A requirement to notify the authority before works start, so the conservation officer can visit. A requirement to submit details for approval before the works proceed, which turns the order into a lighter-touch approval rather than an outright consent. A requirement to use specified materials, profiles or methods. A requirement to record the building before and after. And a limit on the number or extent of works at one property.

The notification condition matters more than it looks. Without it, an authority has no visibility of works carried out in reliance on the order, and no way to review whether the order is working. With it, the authority gets a sample it can monitor and a reason to renew.

A condition requiring a record before works, in the form of measured survey and photography, is often proportionate. On a building where the works will remove historic fabric, Historic Building Recording to an appropriate level is the mechanism, and councils usually expect a suitably qualified author for it.

Revocation and how reliance is affected

Orders can be revoked or varied, by the authority or, for a local order, by the Secretary of State.

The question for an owner part way through works is what happens to reliance already placed on the order. The legislation provides for transitional protection where works have begun in reliance on an order before revocation, and it provides for compensation in defined circumstances for loss or damage caused by revocation. The detail matters and it is fact-specific, so take advice rather than assuming either protection or exposure.

The practical risk management is unglamorous. Before starting works in reliance on an order, download the order and its schedule, print it with the date, photograph the building, and write down which description you consider the works fall within. If the order changes next month, that file is the whole of your evidence.

Checking whether an order covers your works

Four checks, in order:

First, confirm an order exists. Most authorities have none, and a conservation officer may refer to a design guide or a local list as though it were an order. Those are not orders and they grant nothing.

Second, read the description of works, not the summary. Orders are drafted narrowly and the qualifying words do real work. Reinstatement of a traditional shopfront to a pattern shown in a schedule does not cover a new shopfront of similar character.

Third, confirm the building is within scope. Local orders commonly exclude higher-grade buildings, buildings on a specified list, or buildings within particular areas.

Fourth, check every condition and satisfy each one before works start, including any notification period.

Where the answer is unclear, ask the authority in writing and keep the reply. An order is not an application, so there is no decision notice to rely on later, and correspondence is the substitute.

Where an application is still needed

An order grants listed building consent and nothing else. So an application is still required where:

• the works fall outside the order's description, even marginally
• the building is excluded from the order
• planning permission is also needed, for example for an extension or a change of use
• the works affect a scheduled monument, which needs scheduled monument consent from a different decision-maker
• demolition in a conservation area is involved, which needs planning permission for relevant demolition

And where the works have already been carried out without consent, no order retrospectively cures them. The position on unauthorised works to a listed building is unaffected by an order made afterwards, and the offence under the 1990 Act is one of strict liability in its essentials.

For anything falling outside an order, the ordinary route applies, and a proportionate Heritage Statement assessing significance and the effect of the works remains the document that carries the application.

This is general guidance rather than legal advice. Check the position with your local planning authority 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.