What is a listed building?

Buying a listed property puts you in the privileged position of owning a piece of history. And you don’t necessarily need to be interested in architecture to appreciate how much they can do for studying the past and why they need preserving for future generations to enjoy. But what is it exactly? To be considered a listed building it needs to either be built before 1700 and survive in anything similar to its original condition, or most often, they are buildings built between 1700 and 1850.

The age of the building is a key factor, with it first becoming listed after the Second World War when many important historic buildings were lost due to bombing raids. Those buildings that survived were added to an official list and in 1947 legislation was passed to protect them as pieces of history against damage or significant alteration in the future.

So to make sure that you won’t get in trouble if something happens to the building you invested in you need non-standard home insurance. You also need to bear in mind a listed building cannot be demolished, extended or significantly altered without special permission from the local planning authority.

How do buildings become ‘listed’?

There are two main ways for a building to become listed in England.

1. You can nominate a building or monument to Historic England, which is responsible for protecting the Country’s historical environment.
2. Historic England can choose to designate listed status to buildings, based on its own research and priorities.

What are the categories of listed status?

There are around 500,000 listed buildings in England and these fall into one of three categories:

• Grade I- Buildings are of exceptional interest. For example, Buckingham Palace
• Grade II*- Buildings are of particular interest. For example, Coliseum Theatre in London
• Grade II- structures are of special interest. For example, Alexandra Palace

Listed Building Insurance Cover- Factors to be considered

• Does the building or structure have a historic value which would be destroyed or seriously compromised by rebuilding in part or whole?
• Does the policy offer damage cover for the brickwork of the building, including any damage caused by fire, flood or storm?
• Is the building part of a group of historic buildings which would be devalued if a single element was not rebuilt?
• Would the premium based on a total reinstatement insurance policy outweigh both its historic or commercial value?
• Does it cover the cost of specialist materials and labour?

Levels of Property Insurance Available

Total Reinstatement provides a level of cover which in the case of total destruction should enable the owner to completely rebuild to the same design quality and style but in accordance with current legislation.

Modern materials clauses enable reconstruction to the same design but using modern and more readily available equivalent materials.

First loss and agreed value insurance provides cover to the largest single risk which may be represented by the largest building within a group or the most vulnerable part of a single building based on a single event.

Indemnity cover provides enough money to build a modern replacement building in the event of total or near total loss.

Why use Clegg Gifford to help you protect a piece of history?

Not only do we have access to syndicates like other Lloyd’s brokers, we utilise a combination of syndicates, composite markets and MGAs who are aiming to disrupt the status quo.

We have an extensive more than half-a-century history of rising to even the strangest of claims, and we can cater for any of your requirements under one roof.