Heritage Works for Housing: Occupation and Management
The occupation and management stage of a project involves the ongoing use and maintenance of the historic building after the construction and fit-out work has completed.
Homeowner information and stakeholder engagement
It is important that the historic building is used and managed in a way that preserves its historic character and integrity, while also meeting the needs of its occupants. It will be important for potential occupiers to understand the scope of interventions they can make to their homes without requiring approvals and this information could form part of a "homeowner pack".
Effective stakeholder engagement is essential to ensure that the building is used and managed in a way that meets the needs of its occupants and the wider community. This may involve consultation with residents, tenants, businesses, and other stakeholders to identify issues and opportunities for improvement and may include a residents management committee.
Ongoing management and maintenance
There will be items of regular maintenance which should be agreed with the Local Planning Authority such as external cleaning. This should be set out in a Management and Maintenance Plan. Like-for-like repairs should not require the Local Planning Authority's approval.
Upgrades, modifications, or more intrusive maintenance may be required to meet changing needs. It is important to ensure that any modifications are carried out in a way that is consistent with the building’s historic character and any relevant regulations or guidelines.
On more complex schemes, a Heritage Partnership Agreement could be utilised. Once in place this can negate the need to engage with the Local Planning Authority again on routine matters of maintenance or minor refurbishment where a listed building consent may otherwise be required.
Monitoring
It is beneficial to monitor the building’s condition and performance over time, and to evaluate the effectiveness of any maintenance or management strategies that are implemented. This may involve regular inspections, surveys, or other assessments.
Heritage Works for Housing
Historic England aims to support developers in their journey to reusing historic buildings. This guidance highlights how historic buildings can be reused, repurposed and refurbished to provide residential development. It outlines the process from buying an historic building to long-term occupation and management; and the key challenges and approaches to overcome.
These pages provide case studies of successful reuse of historic buildings into new homes, creating sustainable and dynamic places to live. Historic buildings are a tangible opportunity to address ongoing industry challenges, including the housing requirement whilst minimising carbon impacts.
Introduction
Process
Managing Change
The Interface of New and Old
Glossary
Case Study Resources
Historic England engaged Deloitte LLP to assist with the preparation of this Publication / Guidance which uses information provided by Historic England as well as research undertaken by Deloitte to provide guidance on the process for use of historic buildings for residential purposes. Any views, conclusions, insights, and/or recommendations within this Publication / Guidance are Historic England's alone.
