THE CLA has called the current listed building consent system “dysfunctional” and has emphasised the need for reform.

The organisation is backing a new report by the Listed Buildings Initiative. CLA members look after a quarter of all heritage buildings in England and Wales, including at least 25 per cent of listed buildings, and the organisation has called the independent report “shocking, but not surprising”.

The report, Asset or Liability? Owning a listed building in the 21st century, found three-quarters of respondents thought the current listed building consent system worked badly, with 80 per cent saying its decisions were “illogical” or “inconsistent”.

Worst of all for the long-term future of England’s 750,000 listed buildings, two-thirds thought the system “freezes” listed buildings, preventing sympathetic changes essential to keep them valued and viable in the future.

CLA president Henry Robinson said: “This report endorses CLA members’ experiences and our own research over the last eight years. Everyone involved in the system knows about these problems and the only practical solution is reform.

“After six years of discussions, we now have sound national planning policy for heritage and listed buildings, but reform of listed building consent has made very limited progress. The system is collapsing as local authorities repeatedly cut the staff supposed to run it.

“Urgent reforms needed include proper guidance on the listed building consent process, much more realistic technical advice from English Heritage on change to listed buildings, defining and removing from the system the usually harmless changes like replacing central heating and a more streamlined procedure for other non-harmful changes to free up local authority staff so they can focus on the minority of applications which might cause harm.”