Listed buildings and conservation areas
Gypsum skim covers lime plaster on a listed internal wall and the skim is cracking. Can the survey consent to leaving the skim on?
No. The survey cannot consent to leaving the gypsum skim on. The skim covers lime plaster on a listed internal wall, and it is cracking. That is a condition note: a harder finish over an older plaster, with cracks the inspection could see. Historic England explains that listing covers the whole building, which includes this internal wall. Consent to retain the skim, or to take it off, is listed building consent. The survey has not looked that up and does not grant it. Cracks do not become a permission, and a neat patch would not become one either.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Lime plaster moves and breathes in a way a gypsum skim does not. Where gypsum has been laid over lime, the skim can crack as the background shifts, and it can hold moisture against the older coat. The survey can say the skim is there and that it is cracking. It cannot say the finish is an approved alteration, and it cannot say it should stay because the cracks are hairline. Those are judgements about work to a listed wall. The inspection stopped at what the surface showed.
Ask the solicitor whether the skim is recorded, and whether leaving it or removing it needs consent. Historic England explains that listing covers the whole building, and the survey does not grant that consent. A plasterer used to lime can advise on the build-up as a separate instruction if you want a method. Do not treat the survey as permission to hack the skim off, or as permission to paint over the cracks and forget them. The note is the cracking skim, not a consent.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Where is the gypsum skim cracking over the lime, and how widely?
- Have you given any consent to leave that skim in place?
- Did you specify a plaster repair, or only record the cracks?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the cracking skim as a condition note, not as consent.
- Ask the solicitor whether the finish needs listed building consent.
- Do not treat the survey as an order to strip the plaster.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If the cracks are only hairline, has consent been given to leave them?
No. Hairline cracks are still a condition of the skim the survey saw. Historic England explains that listing covers the whole building. The survey has not consented to leaving the gypsum on, however small the cracks. Size of crack is not a grant of consent.
Does the survey require the skim to be removed?
No. Recording a cracking gypsum skim over lime is not an instruction to strip it, and it is not consent to leave it. Historic England explains that listing covers the whole building. What happens next is a consent and a specification the inspection has not written. The note stops at the cracked finish.