Selling your listed property – things to know

What is a listed property?

These are homes that are considered to have certain architectural or historic importance and are therefore "listed" as such to give them a special status. This status places certain restrictions on what can and cannot be done to the properties in order to maintain their appearance and structure for the foreseeable future.

Listed buildings are ranked as Grade I, which is the highest and most-protective level of listing, followed by Grade II* and lastly Grade II. It’s said that about 2.5% of listed buildings in England and Wales are Grade I, with 5.8% being Grade II* and 91.7%. Historic England is a non-departmental public body of the Government responsible for maintaining an index of listed buildings.

The goal of listing is to ensure that properties of which there are not many examples left, or that have particular importance, are preserved. Any building before 1700 that is still standing in its original structure and condition will typically be a listed property, as well as most homes constructed from 1700 through to 1850. The more recent a home was built, the harder it will be to win listing, particularly if the house or flat is less than 30 years old.

Can I sell my home if it’s a listed property?

Absolutely, no matter what the reason you might have for wanting to sell your house, there are no major restrictions on selling a property just because it’s listed, however there are some things you should know.

If you’re getting ready to sell, you should search your home’s history to make sure that no prior owner did any work to alter the property that would be considered illegal. A prospective buyer will conduct such searches through their solicitor, and neither they nor you want to be liable for any such changes to the listed property. It’s vital to know as much of the history of your house before you sell so that you can address such issues if they arise.

Steps you can take to make your listed home even more enticing to sellers

Make sure that while you’re owning the house you follow any rules or other requirements that apply to maintaining the listed property. Many older buildings are not designed to adequately protect against moisture damage, but it can be very hard to win planning approval to install new materials to prevent such harm. As a result you should constantly keep parts of the buildings that will help stop water damage (such as gutters) regularly cleaned and maintained.

Keeping a listed property in good condition before sale also means ensuring the outside is protected, but if you have to make changes to windows or another exterior point it is recommended that you contact a professional surveyor who can assess the work you want to have done. They will be able to tell you whether the work will be acceptable.

Options for selling your listed property

As with most home sales you typically have three options for selling your listed property; sell through an estate agent, sell through an auctioneer, or sell to a property buying company.

Property buying companies tend to give homeowners an accelerated way to sell their home with minimal fuss and the added benefit of not having to pay any fees to the buyer.

Estate agents might have expertise selling listed buildings and could be a good choice as they know how to find you a buyer. But there’s no deadline for selling this way and it can take many weeks or months, and you’ll also have to pay the estate agent fees for finding a buyer.

Auctioneers will also charge you fees, although the perk of selling this way is that the date of the auction gives you a firm time for when your house or flat will sell.