The Council offers pre-application advice as outlined below, but strongly suggests that the advice provided by Historic England should be accessed in the first instance.
Please note: Wealden District Council does not provide advice on Listed Buildings located within the South Downs National Park. Please refer to the South Downs National Park website (external link) for further advice and information.
Historic England Advice
Historic England has a wealth of advice on works to listed buildings, from extensions, to alterations and repair. Further advice can be accessed on the Historic England website (external link).
In addition to the advice above, Historic England has further advice on common works to listed buildings for homeowners and traditional farm building.
- Changes to internal layout of historic buildings (external link)
- Building materials for historic buildings – selection and use (external link)
- Saving energy – general advice (external link)
- Repointing brick and stone walls (external link)
- Access to Historic Buildings (external link)
Windows – alterations, repair, replacement:
- General advice (external link)
- Traditional windows – their care, repair and upgrading (external link)
- Draught proofing windows and doors (external link)
- Secondary glazing (external link)
Insulation:
- Dormer Windows (external link)
- Flat Roofs (external link)
- Pitched Roofs – Cold Roofs (external link)
- Pitched Roofs- Warm Roofs (external link)
- Solid Ground Floors (external link)
- Timber Framed Walls (external link)
- Solid Walls (external link)
Roofing:
The full list of the Historic England advice publications (external link) are available on their website
- Maintenance and repair of traditional farm buildings (external link)
- Adapting traditional farm buildings (external link)
- Adaptive re-use of traditional farm buildings (external link)
- The full list of the Historic England advice publications (external link) are available on their website
Historic England good practice: Bats in Traditional Buildings (pdf)
The full list of the Historic England advice publications (external link) are available on their website
Wealden Design Guide
If you are considering submitting an application to extend or alter a listed building , you are advised to look at the Wealden Design Guide – Chapter 12 (pdf), a Supplementary Planning Document, the purpose of which is to encourage a higher standard of design for development within the District. This chapter provides specific advice to help you through the process of submitting applications and to provide help in ensuring proposals are sympathetic to these special buildings.
Pre-application advice
The Council offers two types of listed building pre-application advice:
Listed Building Enquiry Form
This form is to be used for general enquiries by private owners of Listed Buildings or planning agents acting on their behalf, who wish to seek advice on small scale repairs or whether proposed works to their listed property will require listed building consent.
Queries as to whether works would be acceptable are, in most instances, directed to the Listed Building Surgery route for advice.
The response will be based on the level of detail supplied and will be provided on an entirely without prejudice basis to the submission of any future formal application or any future action by the Local Planning Authority in relation to that particular site. If you require formal confirmation that Listed Building Consent will not be required please submit an application for a Certificate of Lawfulness of Proposed works to a Listed Building (external pdf).
Please Note – No further comments or advice will be provided via this facility after the initial response. If further advice is required on the property in relation to the proposed works, or it is felt that the enquiry is not appropriate for this service, you will be requested to use the Pre-Application Surgery route for which a fee is applicable. A written response to informal enquiries relating to Listed Buildings will only be provided on submission of this form, and not via any other form of correspondence.
Listed Building Surgeries
The Council offers without prejudice pre-application advice through a surgery appointment for works to a listed building. The response will be based on the level of detail supplied and will be provided on an entirely without prejudice basis to the submission of any future formal application or any future action by the Local Planning Authority in relation to that particular site.
The Council would expect that any pre-application proposals are informed by an understanding of the significance of the listed building. Historic England provides guidance on understanding significance:
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- Conservation Principles, Policies and Guidance (external link)
- Making Changes to Heritage Assets, Advice Note No 2 (external link)
- Good Practice Advice Note No. 2 – Managing Significance in Decision Taking (external link)
- Understanding Historic Buildings (external link)
- Good Practice Advice Note No. 3 – Setting of Heritage Assets (external link)
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You may also find it useful to view our Heritage Statement webpage.
Listed Building Surgery – Grade II listed buildings
The Council offers a one hour, bookable appointment at the Hailsham Council Offices with a Conservation Officer to discuss proposed works to a listed building, for which a fee is payable. Pre-application site visits are not generally available for discussions in relation to Grade II listed buildings. For further information, including fees and pre-submission requirements and time scales, please see the Council’s Pre-Application Advice web page.
Listed Building Surgery – Grade I and Grade II* listed buildings
The Council offers a bookable site visit with a Conservation Officer to discuss proposed works to a Grade I and Grade II* listed building. For further information, including fees and pre-submission requirements and timescales, please see the Pre-Application Advice webpage.