Government moves to cut red tape on historic home retrofits

View of historic homes in Castle Combe, a village and civil parish within the Cotswolds Area of Natural Beauty in Wiltshire, England

Source: Shutterstock

The government has taken the first steps towards making it easier to retrofit historic homes

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has published the findings of a wide-ranging review into how to tackle the barriers which block efforts to make historic homes more energy-efficient.

The review found that the planning system was a major issue faced by households, causing ‘frustration about the time it takes to get planning permission’.

One of the proposed measures to cut red tape, which will now go out to consultation, is the greater use of Listed Building Consent Orders to support home improvements – potentially ditching the need to submit individual listed building consent applications.

However, the review also looked beyond planning reform. Others potential moves include reforms to Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) to ensure they are ‘accurate, reliable and trustworthy’ and the development of clearer guidance for historic homeowners on improving energy efficiency as well as supporting the construction industry to better deliver retrofitting services.

The review, entitled Adapting Historic Homes for Energy Efficiency: A Review of the Barriers, set out to identify the key issues and compile a series of commitments which could drive sustainability measures in historic homes ‘without the blight of ugly or inappropriate retrofit damaging these properties’.

During the review, the government heard from stakeholders about the financial incentives needed to help such projects and whether tax breaks – currently repair and maintenance services are subject to 20 per cent VAT – could be considered for the specific needs of historic home retrofits. Feedback on this topic was passed onto the treasury and HM Revenue and Customs.

Minister for arts and heritage Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay said: ‘People who own and live in historic homes are their custodians, and want to take responsible action to protect them for the benefit of generations to come.

‘That isn’t always as straightforward as it should be, so this review has looked at how we can make it easier, while continuing to protect our historic environment.’

Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, which contributed to the review alongside DLUHC, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, said: ‘Historic buildings can and must accommodate change if they are to play a crucial role in helping the UK to transition to Net Zero.

‘This review demonstrates that heritage needn’t be a barrier and identifies opportunities to unlock the potential of historic buildings in England to contribute to meeting our Net Zero target.’

Hannah Dixon of emerging Urmston-based studio Progress in Practice, said she was encourage by the government’s announcements.

She told the AJ: ‘We have worked on an AECB (Association for Environment Conscious Building) level retrofit of a large stone-built period property and are currently working on the EnerPHit retrofit of a Listed lodge, so we recognise just how hard retrofit can be with this type of building.

‘Specifically, we welcome the reform of EPC ratings, which is a blunt tool which offers very little insight into a building’s actual performance.’

Dixon added that the govenment still needed to do more to help those working on trying to improve the energy efficiency of more modern homes too. She said: ‘I would also point out that it is often a struggle to get the retrofit of very “ordinary” buildings through planning.

‘In terms of planning there needs to be a much wider review of our national and regional retrofit aspirations, so that we are reading from the same hymn sheet. As well as these beautiful and complex buildings, we need to facilitate the retrofit of “ordinary” homes so that they are mould-free, comfortable and fit for purpose in the 21st century.’

Comments:

Andrew Gardner of Saltaire-based Above Ground:

The success of this like other mass retrofit initiatives will be determined by community buy-in and trust that the work carried out will deliver genuine improvements.

From our experience one of the biggest barriers to achieving energy efficiency targets while protecting heritage in the mass residential market is the lack of locally integrated supply chains that can carry out this complex work in accordance with best practice.

Stephen Anderson of Buttress:

Preserving our heritage requires a collective effort in the built environment sector and we need robust government intervention to direct this effort. To rapidly decarbonise our historic housing stock will require the package of measures outlined in the review for those that require further investigation to be taken forwards at pace. It is the holistic nature of the approach which is important; take any one element away and it will undermine the whole and stifle delivery.

That the review recognised intervention in the planning system alone is insufficient is particularly important. Whilst inconsistency across Local Planning Authorities and underplaying of dealing with climate change as a public benefit is an important problem to solve, alone it will not incentivise homeowners and domestic landlords to seek to improve the energy efficiency of their homes in a sympathetic manner. That will need the systemic change outlined.

A permanent change to the VAT regime is an important consideration in the review and the funding available is noted. The specialist nature of retrofit to historic properties requires a specialist approach to funding, perhaps best delivered through an existing body like Historic England or National Lottery Heritage Fund, who have the existing skills and funding infrastructure in place to ensure the right approaches are taken, rather than UK government setting up an approach from scratch.

'Some barriers are perhaps understated … such as cost and disruption'Local Listed Building Consent Orders are a welcome consideration. We doubt, however, that, even with the measures outlined, local planning authorities will see them as a priority. These orders are unlikely to be capable of drafting in a manner which is both permissive and capable of reflecting the variety of historic homes in a way which protects their special interest.

Some barriers are perhaps understated. Though disruption in a minor retrofit project can be minimal, some complex to decarbonise homes will require the homeowner to relocate temporarily while work takes place. The cost and disruption of this is a significant barrier, particularly in conservation areas with mixed tenure homes and high levels of deprivation. A targeted and supported approach to such homes, by far the majority in the sample being considered, will be required and the measures proposed in the review don’t go nearly far enough to support our most deprived communities to decarbonise.

On balance, the review outlines positive steps. This kind of holistic approach is what it will take to sensitively adapt our historic homes for a net zero carbon future, but we fear it doesn’t go far enough to affect the change needed in an equitable manner.