Our Heritage Statements: What You Get for Your Money
If you are comparing heritage statement prices, it is easy to assume you are buying the same thing at different fee levels. In reality, the price often reflects the level of research, judgement and risk involved — and getting that wrong can lead to delay, redesign costs and, in some cases, refusal.
A heritage statement is not just a document to upload with a listed building consent application. Its job is to explain what is significant about a listed building or other heritage asset, and how the proposed works may affect that significance. The level of detail should be proportionate to the building, the proposal and the likely impact.
That is where price differences usually come from. A very basic statement may deal only with the bare minimum: the building, a short description of the proposed works and a simple statement about impact. In genuinely straightforward cases, that may be enough. But if the case is more sensitive, a statement that is too thin or too generic can cause real problems later.
If the heritage input is not at the right level, the local planning authority may ask for more information before the application is validated or determined. That can delay the process, add further professional time, and in some cases force changes to drawings or the scheme itself.
For more involved schemes, that commercial risk increases because listed building consent is often not the only consent needed. More complicated proposals may also require planning permission. While listed building consent applications are generally free, planning applications usually attract a planning fee and a Planning Portal service charge. If a scheme has to be revised for heritage reasons, it is not only the heritage work that may need to be revisited — the planning application may need to be changed or resubmitted too, with further time and cost attached.
What clients are really paying for, then, is not simply a longer or shorter report. They are paying for the right level of heritage input for their building and proposal: enough to address the real issues properly, but not so much that the process becomes overcomplicated or disproportionately expensive.
At Recept, that is why we offer different levels of heritage statement rather than pretending every case needs the same service. A simpler project may only need a lighter-touch statement. A more sensitive building or proposal may need more careful assessment, more tailored reasoning and more supporting evidence. The point is to match the heritage input to the level of risk.
What a very basic heritage statement may include
A basic heritage statement will usually identify the property, summarise the proposal, refer to the building’s designation where relevant, and include a short note on significance and likely impact. It may rely heavily on the client’s own description of works, drawings and photographs, together with obvious publicly available information such as the listing entry and basic planning history.
For simple, low-risk cases, that may be proportionate. But it is important to understand what a basic statement often does not include — because that is usually where the price difference comes from.
What a very basic heritage statement may not include
Depending on the service, a cheaper or more basic statement may not include:
detailed building history research,
historic mapping,
HER searches,
closer review of relevant planning history,
review of local validation requirements,
review of similar local listed building applications,
advice on what is likely to be acceptable,
advice on whether planning permission is also needed,
refinement of the scheme to reduce heritage risk,
wider strategic input on the best way forward.
That does not automatically make a basic statement “wrong”. In the right case, it may be perfectly sensible. The issue is whether the case is genuinely simple enough for that lighter level of input. If it is not, a cheaper statement can become expensive later.
Not sure what level you need? Book video advice
How Recept approaches this
Recept is not a heritage statement factory. We aim to provide the proportionate level of heritage input the case actually needs: no more than necessary, but no less than is sensible.
That may involve:
a short video advice session where the client needs early clarity,
a Level 1 statement for a simpler case,
a Level 2 or Level 3 statement where the building or proposal is more sensitive,
or bespoke advice where the issues do not fit neatly into a standard level.
This stepped approach is designed to manage risk sensibly. It gives clients a way to spend in proportion to the project, while reducing the chances of avoidable costs later.
If you start with video advice and then go on to instruct a heritage statement for the same project, we can credit 50% of the video advice fee against the statement fee. That reflects the fact that some initial research and project-specific thinking will already have been done, and helps ensure the early advice does not feel like money spent twice.
Choosing the right level
If your project is straightforward and you already have clear drawings and a settled proposal, a lighter-touch statement may be enough.
If you are unsure what consents are needed, whether the proposal is likely to be acceptable, or whether the building or its setting raises more sensitive issues, spending a little more up front on the right heritage input is often the cheaper decision overall.
The important point is not to buy the cheapest statement available or the most detailed report possible. It is to buy the level of heritage input that matches the commercial and planning risk of the project.