Why It Matters Listed Buildings
Summary
We have counted and classified all listed buildings across London’s neighbourhoods.
Definition
A building is listed when it is of special architectural or historic interest, considered to be of national importance and therefore worth protecting. As the term implies, a listed building is one which is registered on the National Heritage List for England.
Interpretation
We have mapped each listed building and display those which fall into your selected postcode. We show the Grade and Classification of said listed building.
Grade
Listed buildings come in three categories of ‘significance’:
• Grade I for buildings of the highest significance
• Grade II*; and
• Grade II for buildings of special interest. Most listed building owners are likely to live in a Grade II building as these make up 92% of all listed buildings.
Classifications
• 1: Public/private leisure or commercial facility such as the Royal Festival Halls (on London’s Southbank) or the “Lloyds Building” (in the City of London). These are landmark buildings that either house commercial activity or musical/theatrical, libraries, public houses (pubs), parks, swimming baths, village halls and other such similar offerings for the public to enjoy. They can also include castles, theatres, concert halls, offices (except government office buildings).
• 2: Institutional buildings. Such buildings would consist of all Government listed buildings like the Houses of Parliament, University College London or “Buckingham Palace”. These are landmark buildings from which governmental institutions such as the monarchy, army, civil service, guilds (such as the RICS, ICE RIBA, SRA etc.), churches, regulatory authorities and universities operate from or own. They do not include public/private facilities.
• 3: Listed monuments. Such buildings would consist of all memorials, infrastructure pieces, such as gates, bridges (like Tower Bridge”) harbour ways, Tombs, mausoleums, canal towpaths, bandstands, railway stations, memorial monuments such as the Pagoda. They do not include public/private facilities or institutional buildings.
• 4: Residential facilities not being institutions or public/private facilities. Such buildings would consist of private homes.
Why the metric matters from a commercial inhabitant’s perspective
Commercial inhabitants may think only of the restrictions imposed on them if they live in or are adjunct to a listed building, but studies show that they actually present commercial owners and tenants with a number of opportunities to differentiate their business offering and leverage the unique character of their area to give them an edge over competitors. For example, the more successful chain stores or restaurants are known to make their services sympathetic to the historic surrounds to great commercial effect.
Such sympathetically designed and tailored outlets are said to provide customers with a more unique experience, negating some of the negative associations with chain stores which can be viewed as homogeneous and failing to reflect their surroundings. Such outlets are some of the most successful in London, not only because of the increased footfall these historic buildings tend to generate. Conversely, areas with listed buildings also tend to have a high proportion of independent businesses which thrive under the patronage of locals, as well as visitors to the historic buildings.
Areas with a higher proportion of listed buildings are also more likely to have a sense of being a remarkable destination in and of themselves, or as urban economists and architects might say, they have a sense of “place”. Whilst walking around London you might find a gathering of listed buildings around a little square or fountain with a bench and might feel more compelled to pass time here than your average street junction. This is because such an area has a number of objective qualities that amount to a subjective feeling of a sense of place. Commercial developers and architects spend much time and money trying to find sites with a sense of place or create that sense when buying up or designing new developments, so it is of important to these sorts of businesses to know where in London these areas exist.
The George Inn in Southwark is one of London’s few Grade I listed pubs, and was frequented by many famous faces including Charles Dickens, who mentioned the pub in Little Dorrit (Photograph: Wikimedia Commons)
Why the metric matters from a residential inhabitant’s perspective
Owners or tenants of a listed building will be aware that there will be restrictions over the changes you can make to the building’s interior and exterior and potentially restrictions over changes you can make to: other attached structures and fixtures; later extensions or additions; and where relevant, any pre-1948 buildings on land attached to the building. Owners will need to apply for listed building consent from the council for most types of work that affect the ‘special architectural or historic interest’ of their home.
Further, in areas with the highest proportion of listed buildings, buyers should expect to pay almost 26 per cent more than the county and regional average. This is however lower than rural areas with the highest concentrations of listed buildings which can command prices which are more than 50 per cent above the country and regional average.
What residential inhabitants may find less obvious about the impact of having more or fewer listed buildings in their neighbourhood is that the more listed buildings there are in an area, the more likely residents are to report feelings of general happiness and contentment about where they live. Studies show the drivers behind this are Firstly, a higher degree of commonality amongst community members than is found in other neighbourhoods. This is as a result of a shared appreciation of the unique character of the neighbourhood and often a shared appreciation of certain aesthetic values and architecture. There is even evidence to show a greater instance of shared values generally, in such neighbourhoods, such as political and social leanings. Secondly, an increased sense of pride and protectiveness over these neighbourhoods creates increased opportunities for community cohesion, for example during local fund raising to restore listed churches.
Commentary
It’s no surprise that Westminster tops the list of Grade I-listed structures, with Waltham Forest coming in at last place with none!
This should be of interest to all those living and spending time in London as our tax money helps maintain public listed buildings, monuments and structures, so an increased awareness of where they are situated and their importance, not only provides a window to the past, but their aesthetic qualities means they are pleasant and stimulating places to pass time and have an amenity value in and of themselves.
Trivia
You may be surprised to learn that Historic England has included a cattery in its hallowed list of protected structures, but with good reason; Whittington Lodge, which has a Grade II listing, is probably the first purpose-built cattery in Britain, at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home. This idiosyncratic Italianate building was designed by Clough William-Ellis in 1907, and was added to the list in 2014.
History
The National Heritage List for England originated in 1882, when the first powers of protection were established. These developed into what we know today as statutory ‘Listing’ just after the Second World War.
The first state protection for monuments came with the aptly named First Ancient Monuments Protection Act (1882) which established a schedule of 50 prehistoric monuments. Subsequent amendments, in 1900 and 1913, allowed the inclusion of later monuments and introduced greater levels of protection, as well as criteria and fines to prevent damage. A series of high profile conservation battles around these decades raised awareness of the limitations of the legislation to protect historic buildings as well.
The listing of buildings of special architectural or historical interest was established in the Town and Country Planning Acts of 1944 and 1947. The basis for the first listing survey was the heroic war-time lists, known as ‘Salvage Lists’. These were drawn up to determine whether a particular building should be allowed to be demolished even if severely bomb damaged, or whether it was so important to England’s heritage that relevant experts considered it should be restored. It was around this time that a system of grading and specific criteria was introduced.