Listed buildings and conservation areas
Will a RICS home survey apply for listed building consent for you?
No. The survey describes condition. Consent applications are a separate instruction, often by an architect or a surveyor acting as your agent, to the council. The inspection you bought does not include drawings, a heritage statement or the application fee.
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?
If the survey recommends work that will need consent, it should say the work is needed and it may mention that consent could apply. It will not usually prepare the application inside a Level 2 or Level 3 fee. Ask the firm if they offer that service. If they do, it is a new quote. If they do not, ask a conservation architect. Fees vary with the complexity of the work. There is no RICS tariff for consent.
Do not delay emergency weatherproofing that the surveyor says is urgent without asking the council what you can do immediately. Temporary protection and a permanent alteration are different. The council would rather hear from you than discover a new window. That is practical advice, not a promise that they will approve.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which recommended works are likely to need consent rather than ordinary repair?
- Does your fee include any application? It should not, unless the terms say so.
- What temporary protection would not prejudice a later consent?
What are the typical next steps?
- Commission consent advice as its own job, with a written fee.
- Do not fold the application into a builder’s repair quote and hope.
- Keep the survey’s condition ratings. They are still the reason the work was suggested.
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
Can you do the works and apply afterwards?
That is how people end up in enforcement. Ask the council before you start. Retrospective consent is not a strategy this page recommends.
Does a building-regulations application replace listed building consent?
No. They are different regimes. A window can need one, the other, or both. Ask the council.