Ask HeritageAI

Ask questions about listed buildings, conservation areas and heritage planning — opens in a new tab. Sign in with a ChatGPT account to start asking questions.

Talk to an architect

Guides

Heritage planning guides

Plain-English guides to heritage statements, listed building consent and the August 2026 NPPF, written to the same claims standard as the rest of this site — sourced, and marked where a point still needs verifying against the current policy text.

  1. What Is a Heritage Statement, and Which One Do I Need?

    "Heritage statement" is not one fixed document — it is the general term councils use for any report explaining a heritage asset's significance and how proposed works affect it. Which specific document you need (a Statement of Heritage Significance, a Heritage Impact Assessment, or both) depends on your project stage.

  2. What Is a Statement of Heritage Significance?

    A Statement of Heritage Significance (SoHS) is a document that explains what makes a heritage asset — usually a listed building — important, covering its history, fabric, plan form and setting, so that any later proposal can be properly assessed against that significance.

  3. What Is a Heritage Impact Assessment?

    A Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) assesses how a confirmed set of proposed works would affect a heritage asset's significance — identifying whether there is harm, how much, and whether it is outweighed by the public benefits of the proposal.

  4. Do I Need Listed Building Consent?

    You need Listed Building Consent for any works, internal or external, that would affect the special architectural or historic character of a listed building — including works to structures within its curtilage. Carrying out such works without consent is a criminal offence.

  5. The August 2026 NPPF: What Changed for Heritage?

    The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) published in August 2026 moved historic environment policy into Chapter 20, restructured it as policies HE1 to HE10, and dropped the long-standing "less than substantial harm" test in favour of a different way of describing effects on heritage significance.

  6. Can I Insulate or Fit a Heat Pump in a Listed Building?

    Yes, in many cases — but almost any retrofit measure that changes a listed building's fabric or appearance, including most insulation and external heat pump installations, needs Listed Building Consent first, and current planning policy now weighs the energy benefit in your favour more explicitly than before.

  7. Grade I, Grade II* and Grade II: Does the Grade Change What You Can Do?

    Grade I, Grade II* and Grade II describe how important a listed building is judged to be, from the most exceptional (Grade I) down. All three grades require Listed Building Consent for the same range of works — the grade affects how much scrutiny and justification your proposal needs, not whether consent applies at all.