Listed building insurance

Finding out if your property is listed is easy: the National Heritage List for England (NHLE) contains details of every listed building in England. 

There are two ways that buildings can become listed. They can be nominated to Historic England, the organisation in charge of England’s listed buildings, or Historic England can designate the building itself, based on its own research.

You can make certain alterations to a listed building, but the higher the grade the less you can do. 

Historic England’s website states that ‘listed buildings are to be enjoyed and used, like any other building. Listed buildings can be altered, extended and sometimes even demolished within government planning guidance’.

But before you make any changes, you must apply to your local authority for consent – making changes without permission is against the law.

Listed buildings do tend to be more expensive to insure on average, but as with every insurance policy, the exact cost of any policy depends on the value of the property being insured. But because listed buildings tend to be harder to repair, requiring rarer materials and amore expertise, premiums are normally higher to reflect this.

Almost certainly: most ordinary home insurance policies aren’t designed to cover the specific needs of a listed property. Specialist insurance should always be your first port of call.

You may well find that your home does need a specialist insurance policy if it’s in a conservation area. Local authorities which govern such areas do have the power to make sure your building is preserved.