Complete the application form to add an entry or to amend or remove an entry that appears on the National Heritage List for England.
How To Get Historic Buildings or Sites Protected Through Listing
Care about the future of a historic place you know and love? You can apply for a historic building or site to be protected through the listing system by completing our online application form.
You can also use the same form to ask us to consider amending or removing entries that appear on the National Heritage List for England (NHLE). Find more information in our De-listing Guidance.
You can return to unfinished applications at any time.
Privacy notice
- When you submit an application to Historic England you will be asked to provide your name and contact details. We will use these details to contact you and keep you informed about the status of your application.
- Personal information that you choose to provide in support of your application, including photographs, will be used to maintain a record of the application and to inform our assessment and recommendation. You should not include sensitive personal data within the application.
- Information in the application will be shared with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) where the Secretary of State is responsible for making the final decision.
- We retain a permanent record of all submitted applications, this includes unsuccessful applications. Applications which are not submitted will be deleted two years after the date of creation.
- Read the Historic England Privacy Policy for more information about how we use and store your personal information.
Freedom of Information
Historic England is subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 which provide a general right of access to information we hold.
We may provide information you have supplied in response to a request made under this legislation, subject to any exemptions which apply.
We offer both a free and a paid-for service. You will be asked which service you would like to choose at the start of the formal application process.
For more details on our paid-for service see our Fast-track Listing, and Listing Enhancement webpages:
These are carried out on a cost recovery basis as part of our Enhanced Advisory Services.
You can apply to protect:
- Buildings
- Monuments, including war memorials
- Parks, gardens or battlefields and
- Maritime wreck sites
If successful, the building or site will then be added to the NHLE.
Making an application
Just follow these three steps in order to apply for listing.
Step 1: Make sure that the building or site you are nominating is not already on the List or being assessed for listing
- Search the List
- Check with your local office whether we have already received an application
- Check on Heritage Gateway to see if we have considered the building before
Step 2: Check that the place you are nominating is eligible
We only take forward applications where the building or site is something capable of being listed, scheduled or registered and it falls under one of the following:
- Is under serious threat of demolition or major alteration
- Is within the remit of one of our strategic listing priorities
- Has very strong potential for inclusion on the NHLE. See our Listing Guidance
Step 3: Complete the form
- You will first need to set up a Historic England Account, if you do not already have one. This is quick and easy to do and will allow you to submit as many applications as you like. You can also return to unfinished applications at any time
- Read our checklist to see what information you will need in order to complete the application form
- Complete the application form using our step-by-step guidance
Certificates of Immunity
Using the above form, you can also apply for a Certificate of Immunity (COI). A COI prevents a building from being listed for five years. It's a useful mechanism for ascertaining the listed status of a building and can help inform development proposals for a site.
How does a COI work?
Paragraph 24 of the Principles of Selection for Listed Buildings (Department for Culture, Media and Sport [DCMS], November 2018) explains:
‘A COI precludes the Secretary of State from listing a building, and a local planning authority from serving a building preservation notice in relation to it, for a period of five years from the date of issue. COIs provide the owners / developers of a building with certainty over its possible listing.’
Upon application for a COI, the building is usually assessed for listing: this will result in Historic England recommending to the Secretary of State either that the building should be listed, or that a COI should be issued.
COIs offer immunity from listing only. Other designation outcomes such as the scheduling of ancient monuments and archaeological areas, and the registration of parks, gardens, and battlefields may still apply on any sites granted a COI. This is also the case for the designation of conservation areas, carried out by local planning authorities.
How do I apply for a COI?
Submit your application for a COI to Historic England using the online application form for listing, linked to above.
Please supply enough detailed information with your application to enable us to make an initial desk-based assessment.
How is the assessment made?
When we receive an application for a COI, Historic England will, in most instances, carry out a full assessment, generally including an internal and external inspection of the building.
We'll then make a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on whether the building merits listing or whether a COI should be issued. If the Secretary of State is satisfied that the building is of special architectural or historical interest, then the building is listed.
Should DCMS be minded to grant a COI, we will send out a letter on their behalf informing all parties of this. At this stage, there is a period of 28 days in which to appeal to DCMS to ask for this to be reviewed.
After this period, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport will formalise their decision. If a COI is issued this cannot be challenged or revoked.
Can I pay for my application to be fast-tracked?
Our Fast-Track Listing service provides clarity sooner. You can use it to apply for listing, or for a COI.
We offer a guaranteed timeframe, usually within 12 weeks, in which we will make our recommendation to the DCMS on whether or not a building should be listed, or a COI issued.
For a full description of our Fast-Track Listing service, see the detailed description of our Enhanced Advisory Services.
Can COIs be renewed?
COIs last for five years. When there are less than two years left to run, you can apply to renew a COI. Renewal is not automatic; Historic England will carry out a new assessment to determine whether a further COI should be considered. It is possible for a COI to be renewed more than once.
Building Preservation Notices
Along with requests for a COI, the same form can be used by local planning authorities (LPAs) to apply for listing following the service of a Building Preservation Notice (BPN).
A BPN is a form of temporary listing served by a local planning authority (LPA) under section 3 of the Planning (Listed Building and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.
What is a BPN?
A BPN is a means for an LPA to protect a building that might have special architectural or historic interest, but that is in danger of demolition or alteration in such a way as to affect its character.
It protects a building for six months, which allows Historic England to carry out an assessment of the building for listing.
LPAs are encouraged to contact Historic England for advice and guidance when considering serving a BPN. Regional Listing teams can be contacted using the details here:
- North West Regional Office
- East of England Regional Office
- North East & Yorkshire Offices
- South West Regional Office
- Midlands Regional Office
- London & South East Regional Office
General enquiries can be directed to [email protected].
Need more information?
- Read the Principles of Selection for Listed Buildings that sets out the general principles applied when deciding whether a building is of special architectural or historic interest and should therefore be added to the NHLE
- Read the Scheduled Monuments Policy Statement that sets out current Government policy on the identification, protection, conservation and investigation of nationally important ancient monuments
- Take a look at our Selection Guides which help to explain what we are looking for when we assess applications for inclusion on the NHLE
- Explore our Special Historic Interest in Listing guidance to understand how we assess these criteria in a listing application. You can also explore examples that celebrate special historic interest on the NHLE.
- Take a look at our Introductions to Heritage Assets
- Take a look at our examples of completed applications below
Listing Helpdesk
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Email
[email protected]
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Address
EC4R 2YA
