What is a listed building?

This information has been obtained from the Departure for Culture, Media and Sport. Salford City Council is not responsible for the process for listing buildings. Applications for listing are determined by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

The lists of buildings of special architectural or historic interest are registers recording the best of our buildings. The lists include a wide variety of structures, from castles and cathedrals to milestones and village pumps.

Not all the items on the lists are what we might conveniently think of as beautiful or attractive - some are included purely for their historical value. But the lists add up to a heritage register covering the whole of England.

Listed buildings are classified in grades to show their relative importance, and the current listing position in England is:

About 500,000 individual buildings are estimated to be protected and some list entries cover several buildings.

All the properties considered for listing are judged according to a set of national standards. The following are the main criteria which the Secretary of State applies in deciding which buildings to include in the statutory lists.

Architectural interest: the lists are meant to include all buildings which are of importance to the nation for the interests of their architectural design, decoration and craftsmanship; also important examples of particular building types and techniques (e.g. buildings displaying technical innovation or virtuosity) and significant plan forms.

Historic interest: this includes buildings which display important aspects of the nation’s social, economic, cultural or military history.

Close historical associations: with nationally important people or events.

Group value: especially where buildings comprise together an important architectural or historical unity or a fine example of planning (e.g. squares, terraces or model villages).

A particular building may qualify for listing under more than one of these criteria.

Age and rarity are important considerations, particularly where buildings are proposed for listing on the strength of their historic interest. The older a building is, and the fewer surviving examples of its kind, the more likely it is to have historical importance. Thus all buildings before 1700, which survive in anything like their original condition, are listed; and most buildings of about 1700 to 1840 are listed, though some selection is necessary.

After about 1840, because of the greatly increased number of buildings erected and the much larger numbers that have survived, greater selection is necessary to identify the best examples of particular building types, and only buildings of definite quality and character are listed. For the same reasons, only selected buildings from the period after 1914 are normally listed. Buildings which are less than 30 years old are normally only listed if they are of outstanding quality and under threat. Buildings which are less than ten years old are not listed.

How far does the listing extend?

Buildings are listed in their entirety: there is no such thing as just a listed fascade or interior. But some parts of listed buildings (interior as well as exterior) may be more important than others, and this could be significant if an owner is thinking of applying for listed building consent for partial demolition or alteration.

In addition, any object or structure fixed to a listed building is treated as part of the building. Also any object or structure included within the curtilage (the area of enclosed land associated with the use of a building, such as the garden of a house) of the building which, although not fixed to the building, forms part of the land and has done so since before 1 July 1948 is included in the listing.

All list entries also include a description of the building. The description is intended principally to aid identification and while it will include mention of those features which led English Heritage to recommend listing, it is not intended to provide a comprehensive or exclusive record of all the features of importance, and the amount of information given in descriptions varies considerably. Absence of a reference to a feature does not, therefore, indicate that it is not of interest or that it can be removed or altered without consent.

Procedure requesting listing

As much information as possible should be obtained by the person requesting listed status for the building. A typical check list is set out below:

• Street location plan to identify the building and surrounding land
• Copies of any plans and elevations of the building (with the permission of the architect)
• Copies of articles from any source giving a history or background information about the building, the architect or any famous people associated with it
• Photographs (external and internal) of the building and any important features

This information should then be sent to the Listing Branch of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport who will then request the government’s agent, English Heritage, to inspect and advise whether they are of the opinion that the building should be included in the List of Buildings of Architectural or Historic Interest.

If the recommendation is for inclusion then the Department for Culture, Media and Sport make the final decision based upon the recommendation of English Heritage. If the building is included then the relevant local authority is notified accordingly so that they can include the information on their register ad also in their land charges legal records. The owner of the building is also notified of the inclusion of the listed building register.

Who to contact

Name

Alison Partington

Address

Civic Centre
Chorley Road
Swinton
Salford
M27 5BY
Map to this location

Telephone

0161 793 3782

Email

plans.consultation@salford.gov.uk

This page was last updated on 18 May 2011