The Prime Minister’s decision to call a sudden general election caught everyone by surprise and brought a temporary halt to our campaigning inside Parliament.

However, The Listed Property Owners’ Club leapt at the opportunity to draw our campaign to the attention of party leaders and election candidates.

In a two-pronged approach we enlisted Club members to write to local candidates in their constituencies urging them to support action that would help protect an important part of the nation’s heritage. Members asked candidates to join the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Listed Properties if they were elected on 8^th June.

The letter campaign was underpinned by LPOC producing for the first time The Listed Property Owners’ Manifesto, which we sent to all political parties and key journalists. This 2017 Manifesto used evidence gathered from the recent Owners’ Voice Survey to press home the case for radical reform of tax and planning laws.

Its key message was that thousands of listed properties across the country were cherished and protected by owners who spend precious time and resources keeping them in good repair. Yet many of these owners struggle to find the resources to maintain these properties and constantly have to battle the challenges posed by the UK’s complex and inconsistent planning rules and regulations.

We revealed that 87% of owners surveyed in the recent campaign had said they considered the cost of upkeep of their listed building to be significantly greater than that of an unlisted building and urged the political parties to support our four-point plan:

1. Introduce a new VAT rate of 5% for all repairs and pre-authorised alterations to listed buildings;
2. Give local councils a duty to provide professional conservation advice to the owners of listed properties;
3. Reform planning regulation to ensure better consistency in deciding listed building consent across the country;
4. Remove unnecessary red tape by establishing nationally set exemptions on minor works that should not require listed building consent and introducing a more routine less bureaucratic method for securing consent for minor works.

Peter Anslow, founder of The Listed Property Owners’ Club, said:  “We made a powerful case for the four-point plan in our Manifesto and the importance of creating a positive framework for the nation’s listed buildings.

“Owners of listed property have had a particularly bad deal in recent years and it is time to reverse the trend – this was the message we took to political campaigners.”

The Club will now use the Manifesto in future engagement with parliamentarians and, in particular, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Listed Properties.

With the calling of a general election the APPG’s work was suspended but new officers and a new programme will be agreed in the coming weeks. LPOC will be contacting former members re-elected to Parliament as well as new MPs and encouraging them to join. Campaign News will keep you up to date on developments.

Read The Listed Property Owners’ Manifesto here:

DO YOU HAVE A STORY TO SHARE THAT COULD HELP SUPPORT THE CAMPAIGN?

If you have experienced difficulties with Listed Building Consent, been affected by the removal of the VAT concession or have experienced difficulties surrounding owning a listed property, we would love to hear from you. We are looking for owners who are happy to share their stories to highlight the difficulties owners face. Please contact us on 01795 844939.