Is a hole in the roof more than just a hole in your pocket? The risks of not maintaining historic houses and options for owners
“No, you don’t love it. You see a million bricks that may crumble, a thousand gutters and pipes that may block and leak, and stone that will crack in the frost… I see my life’s work.” Lord Grantham’s words in the first series of Downton Abbey might paint a romantic picture of a view of owning a historic house but, they hit a nail on the head on a key concern for some historic house owners: how do we keep the roof on? Another question that people may have is: what do we do if we can’t keep the roof on?
What happens if we don’t maintain a listed building?
A common question that lawyers within our Historic Property and Planning Group are asked on acquisitions of listed buildings is: what exactly are my obligations to maintain it? There is actually no general duty on the owner of a listed building to keep a property in a good state of repair. This is in sharp contrast to the treatment of un-authorised works where even painting a small part of the exterior the wrong colour could, technically, be a criminal offence.
However, under S.54 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 a Local Authority (or Historic England in London) (the “Authority”) can carry out works that are “urgently necessary for the preservation of a listed building” after giving notice to the owner. This is not a clever mechanism where you can get free repairs from the state though; the power only applies to an unoccupied building (or the unused part of a partly occupied building), it only extends to the minimum works required to secure the building’s preservation and the Authority is entitled to recover their costs from the owner.
Under S.48 of the same Act, the Authority can serve a notice on an owner to carry out works which “must specify the works which the authority considers reasonably necessary for the proper preservation of the building”. Unlike with S.54, this does not only extend to urgent works to unoccupied buildings. So what happens if you do not comply?
If two months pass from you receiving your repairs notice and reasonable steps are not being taken, the Authority can begin compulsory purchase proceedings. This is usually be done with the aim of getting the building to another private owner who will acquire and repair the building in a back-to-back arrangement.
This sounds threatening and, while it has been used, owners can rest assured that the use of this power is relatively rare. For example, 549 Lordship Lane, a Gothic Revival House in Dulwich that is an early example of concrete built domestic housing was compulsorily acquired. The state of repair was extremely poor. This means that historic house owners should not immediately get into a panic because of some peeling paint or a few loose tiles.
The issues surrounding neglected heritage buildings were put into focus on the 19th August when there was a fire following a suspected arson attacks at Woolton Hall (argued to be one of Robert Adam’s finest pieces of work in the North of England). It is Grade 1 listed, but it had stood empty since 2003. It was on English Heritage’s “At Risk” register and a plan to save it was being worked on. Empty buildings are a major target for arson attacks and so a neglected building may not just be at risk from compulsory purchase.
Can we get help maintaining our listed building?
If you own a historic house, particularly one of some note, there are options available to you to get support in keeping the house in repair.
Historic England, using the Heritage at Risk Fund funded by the Government, has announced at the start of August that 37 listed buildings are receiving grants to support the repair on listed buildings. While none of the grants were given to privately owned historic houses in this round of funding, Historic England confirms that the grants are available for the “repair and conservation of listed buildings, scheduled monuments and registered parks and gardens” meaning that a house could be eligible. There is a key caveat that they “will normally expect you to provide public access to the property after the repair work is complete.” Cadw (a department of the Welsh Government) runs a similar scheme in Wales which similarly requires “public benefit” as a condition of giving funding.
Another option is to seek fundings from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. This was put into action at a country house earlier this year when the Chatsworth House Trust received £4,600,000 from the fund to “support the restoration of the historic Cascade and create a major new learning and audience development programme for the Chatsworth Garden” following a £422,000 granting to start the project in 2023. While this Chatsworth organisation is a charity, the Lottery Heritage Fund’s website confirms that the grants can be given to “a private owner of a heritage asset”. However, like with Historic England and Cadw’s grants, they confirm that one of the key principles is “inclusion, access and participation” meaning it is only likely to be suitable if you are enabling public access.
“You might get able to get assistance by way of tax relief. Currently, there is a tax exemption available for “national heritage assets” where some buildings can be conditionally exempted from inheritance tax and capital gains tax, subject to certain conditions being met. Advice should be sought if you are considering using the exemption as part of your succession planning as the application of the rules need to be considered on a case-by-case basis and it comes with significant ancillary undertakings. However, broadly, for a building it would need to be a “building… of outstanding historical or architectural interest” and the new owner receiving the asset must undertake to:
- look after the house;
- make it available for the general public to view; and
- keep it in the UK (this may not seem relevant to a building but let’s not forget that Henry Ford moved his Cotswold home from the UK to Michigan in 1930).
Importantly, if these undertakings are breached, then the deferred tax becomes due. This exemption is one reason why several stately homes are open to the public. There has been some chatter about the potential removal of this exemption as the current Government searches for ways to increase its tax revenue. While there are no formal proposals as yet, this is something many owners of notable historic homes, and those thinking of buying them, will be watching keenly.”
Managing Listed Buildings
Managing or acquiring listed buildings, particularly significant historic homes, is a different game to more “normal” home ownership. It comes with a number of quirks and complications that need to be navigated, potentially even opening up your house to the public.
From purchase to sale, legal advice is crucial throughout to navigate the complex web of regulations and ensure compliance with all legal requirements. Our Historic Property and Planning team combine specialist expertise from across the firm to provide holistic advice in respect of all aspects of historic property. To find out more about how we can support you, please get in touch below.
