Protecting Heritage Beyond the List

Local lists (also known as local heritage lists) are usually developed by the local planning authority, often in collaboration with the community. Local lists can include buildings, designed landscapes (such as parks and gardens), archaeology and elements of the natural environment.  

A local heritage list: 

• plays a role in reinforcing local character. It is a way of identifying and highlighting what is characteristic or unique to a particular area. 
• allows the community to highlight what is significant to them about their area and have a voice in the planning system.  
• is not just about buildings. Local listing covers the whole historic environment, and it  
• can protect buildings which do not meet the test for national Listing.  
• ensures that the importance of the building, or other non-designated heritage asset, is formally recognised and given consideration in the planning system. 
• can be used to identify local heritage assets to support the development of Local Plans. 

Local Plans: set out a clear vision for an area and are designed through consultation with the local community. They provide a framework for decision-making, ensuring places are well-designed and meet local and national needs and priorities.  

Not all local planning authorities have a local list and it isn’t compulsory to compile one. However, they are recommended as part of England's national planning policy, in the form of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

Because they are managed locally, the way a local list is presented (for instance through a PDF, an interactive map or a spreadsheet) will vary, as will the criteria used to assess a building or other heritage asset for inclusion on the local list. They may also have different names, such as ‘the local heritage list’, a list of ‘non-designated heritage assets’ or ‘buildings of local interest’.

Not all Local Authorities have a local list and there is no requirement for Local Authorities to compile or maintain them. Some Local Authorities publish their lists on their website and some can also be found on the Heritage Gateway. Searching on your Local Authority’s website for ‘local list’ or ‘local heritage list’ should enable you to find information about whether a local list is available.

The Heritage Gateway allows you to cross-search over 60 different heritage resources. This includes Historic England’s records as well as those of many Historic Environment Records (HERs) which hold the primary information for non-designated heritage assets (such as locally listed buildings), as well as records from other heritage organisations.

The Heritage Gateway is managed by Historic England in partnership with the Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers (ALGAO) and the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC).

Essential to local listing is a push to improve access to clear, comprehensive, and up-to-date information about the local historic environment. This will involve ensuring that the information contained on local lists is publicly available, best achieved by local lists being included in the HER for the area.

Local listing provides an opportunity for communities to voice their views on local heritage. It recognises that the importance we place on the historic environment extends beyond the confines of the planning system, to recognise those community-based values that contribute to our sense of place. 

Collaboration should include involving communities in drafting the selection criteria used to decide whether to include a building or other heritage asset on the local list, as well as asking the community to nominate assets for addition to the list. Having selection criteria which has been co-designed helps to establish a transparent, consistent, and a proportionate system for identifying, assessing and recording heritage assets.  

Historic England has developed the first comprehensive guide to developing local lists, based on examples of good practice from around the country. The advice note Local Heritage Listing is designed to support local authorities, community groups and others who are interested in the identification and management of significant local heritage and includes advice on how to introduce a local list and how to make changes to an existing one.  

The advice note also promotes a more consistent approach to identifying and managing local heritage assets across England and encourages local lists to encompass the full range of heritage assets that make up the local historic environment (including designed landscapes, archaeology and more). The guidance encourages a consistent approach to making decisions on what to include on a local list, as well as advice on keeping accurate and accessible records. 

Further guidance is available in a recorded webinar and accompanying questions and answers on our website: HELM Webinar: Local Heritage Listing 

There are several ways in which a local heritage list might be created. They can be set up by the Local Planning Authority, or they may be community-led, for instance as part of a neighbourhood plan. 

Heritage assets for consideration for the local list may be identified through: 

• A dedicated local heritage listing project  
• Local Development Plan (Local Plan) 
• Neighbourhood Plan  
• Conservation Area appraisals and reviews 
• As part of the decision-making process for planning applications 

Provided they meet the requirements of the local planning authority's selection criteria, local lists can include a diverse range of heritage assets, including:

• Buildings
• Public art
• Street furniture (such as telephone boxes, benches, drinking fountains and lampposts)
• Other Structures (such as bridges, viaducts and military structures)
• Parks, gardens, public spaces and designed landscapes
• Archaeological sites and remains
• Maritime heritage and shipwrecks

Almost any structure that has been created by humans, is eligible for inclusion on a local heritage list, if it meets the definition of a heritage asset and meets the local selection criteria.

Buildings that are of special architectural or historic interest can be listed, which gives them legal protection. Listing recognised and provides protection to the nation’s special buildings, and anyone can recommend a building for listing through the application process. All nationally listed buildings are hosted on the National Heritage List for England (known as the NHLE). The NHLE is a publicly available, searchable database which contains information on England’s nationally protected heritage. National listing is more formally known as statutory listing, as maintaining a national list is a statutory (legal) requirement.  

Local lists are set up and managed locally, either by the local planning authority or as part of a community led neighbourhood plan. Whilst Local Heritage Lists are not statutory, they are recognised under national planning policy and are given a degree of protection in the planning system, under the National Planning Policy Framework, or NPPF. 

Conservation areas are designated in order to preserve or enhance the character or appearance of that area because of its special architectural and historic interest of a place - in other words, the features that make it special. Every local planning authority in England has at least one conservation area, and there are around 10,000 in England. Conservation areas are an important tool for local planning authorities. Effective management of conservation areas requires the preparation of a character appraisal and accompanying management plan. Local authorities usually publish these documents on their websites. 

Appraisal: Before a conservation area is designated, the local planning authority will usually prepare an appraisal which will include information on what should be included in the designation.  

Management Plan: Once a conservation area is designated, the management plan is the key tool for reviewing the area and its boundaries and developing proposals for the preservation and enhancement of the area. 

Most conservation areas are designated by the Council as the local planning authority.  

Find out more about how they are designated and managed. 

In conservation areas there are some extra planning controls and considerations in place to protect the historic and architectural elements which make the place special. Find out about living in a conservation area, including details on obtaining consent and opportunities for grant aid. 

Some local planning authorities use additional methods of local designation to manage their local historic environment. These generally take the form of areas of special local character, designed to capture historically important areas that haven’t met the criteria for designating conservation areas.  

Although areas of special local character are generally used to identify areas which have architectural importance, or which contribute to the local townscape, they may also deal with other elements of the historic environment such as locally important landscapes or archaeology. 

If your local conservation area intrigues you, you could: 

• Look up Conservation Area Appraisals on your local authority’s website to learn more about the area’s unique character 
• Look up your local history group, civic society or the national amenity societies and get involved in their activities 

England's protected landscapes are amongst its finest and most treasured landscapes. The landscapes we see today are cultural landscapes – the result of thousands of years of human influence on the countryside as people interact with nature. They continue to be living and working landscapes and the people who manage the land today help safeguard their special qualities. 

National Parks & National Landscapes  

England's National Parks and National Landscapes (previously known as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty or AONBs) cover nearly a quarter of the land area of England, which together form some of our finest protected landscapes. Although these protected landscapes are not administered by Historic England, they contain thousands of listed buildings, nationally important ancient monuments and registered parks and gardens. 

Other natural designations 

In addition to National Parks and National Landscapes there are further national and international statutory (legal) environmental designations which contribute to England's natural environment and make a major contribution to national and regional character. These include the following: 

• Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) 
• Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) 
• Special Protection Areas (SPA) 
• Ramsar Sites 
• National Nature Reserves (NNR) 
• Local Nature Reserves (LNR) 
• Marine Protected Areas (MPA) - including a Marine Nature Reserve at Lundy