Buying a Grade 1 Listed Property

[Schoffelgod]

Hi,

I am about to offer on purchasing a 1450 built Grade 1 listed timber framed property and unsure where to start on my questions. I am a Surveyor but don’t have any experience with this age of property other than at Uni. Despite the age the property appears in amazing condition but I am thinking of getting Peter Ward’s team around to pre-purchase check the building. Is it likely I am going to have issues mortgaging (75% deposit) and insuring the building and how much more expensive might it be than a regular house. Can I build a garden office if the garden is massive?

 

[Cubist]

Is it safe to assume that you, as a Surveyor, fully understand that your involvement in and authority over all decisions concerning the property is largely limited to saying Yes to whatever the CO says and opening your wallet? With a G1 listing that's about the limit of your future contributions. As to building a shed in the garden, irrespective of how big the latter may be, I would rate your chances at between 0-5% at best even if it were to be completely invisible to passing members of the public.

 

[Flyfisher]

What's that old saying about it being better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission?

For me, it would depend on what sort of garden office is being envisaged. If it's just a large-ish garden shed kitted out with power and internet then I'd be inclined to just do it. I say that on the basis that it would be completely reversible and do zero damage to the G1 property itself.

As for insurance, this will be based on the re-build cost of the property and can be expected to be higher than the market value of the property, depending on the area of the country. The only way to find out for sure is to seek some quotations, but bear in mind the difficulty of determining an agreed re-build cost and the risks of being under-insured. The only examples I can give is my previous 1950s house in Hertfordshire with a rebuild cost about 1/3rd its market value and my current G2* timber frame house with a rebuild cost of about 2x the market value. It can also be expected than many of the well-know insurers won't even quote for a listed property.

 

[Kearn]

What's that old saying about it being better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission?

For me, it would depend on what sort of garden office is being envisaged. If it's just a large-ish garden shed kitted out with power and internet then I'd be inclined to just do it. I say that on the basis that it would be completely reversible and do zero damage to the G1 property itself.

As for insurance, this will be based on the re-build cost of the property and can be expected to be higher than the market value of the property, depending on the area of the country. The only way to find out for sure is to seek some quotations, but bear in mind the difficulty of determining an agreed re-build cost and the risks of being under-insured. The only examples I can give is my previous 1950s house in Hertfordshire with a rebuild cost about 1/3rd its market value and my current G2* timber frame house with a rebuild cost of about 2x the market value. It can also be expected than many of the well-know insurers won't even quote for a listed property.

Many of the insurers tap out at a rebuild above 6 figures.

A good broker will see you through the insurance side though, I have a very good chap at Howdens who worked wonders for an aborted ‘non-insurable’ properly.
You’ll need an independent rebuilt figure, this will set you back a mere couple of hundred, and remove liability of being underinsured from you.

Being GI as mentioned, means every decision is scrutinised and HE are involved. You may get great input and advice, but you won’t get choice. It will also go more slowly than the common* slow LBC process.

* not always - our substantial application was granted within 7weeks, no issues and our CO is wonderfully pragmatic.