Now that the mini-budget has passed, the next big event on the agenda is the planning bill. The shift to give more VAT relief does make us hopeful that there will be some complimentary measures to make these kinds of works easier and less bureaucratic for owners.

The Club is continuing to pressure the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities around energy efficiency, particularly looking at places where technicalities result in duplicate permissions, or listed properties alone needing to make applications. This is needless and simply places more pressure on planners and on owners, without adding to the protection that listing provides.

The goal should be for efficiency; both in terms of energy and time and effort involved and now should be the time to look at permitted development rights around heat pumps and ground level solar, as well as factoring in energy use in  listed building consent decisions.