Listing Cases

We advise on designation risks and represent clients when their land or buildings have been proposed for statutory listing (or scheduling, inclusion in a conservation area or registration as a historic park and garden).

Experience

• We often advise during pre-purchase due diligence and commonly on post-WWII office buildings, many of which demonstrate a high standard of architectural excellence and present investors and developers with major risks.
• Our excellent track record has seen us secure certificates of immunity from listing and revisions to existing designations to exclude areas from protection. We run appeals against listing decisions or support designation reviews where there have been procedural or factual errors during the assessment process.

One area of greater uncertainty in this area of town planning is the extent of any designation, sometimes arising from uncertainty about the curtilage of a property. We often instruct barristers to obtain expert legal opinions which rely on our factual and historical analyses.

The key to achieving the best results in this area is sound and authoritative research, and we have a team of specialists led by Dr Roger Bowdler, who was formerly the National Head of Designations at Historic England. On historic landscape, we work with Dr Paul Stamper, former Head of Parks and Gardens at Historic England. The level of expertise we bring to bear in this area of consultancy is unique in the UK.