UPVC Windows in Listed Building

[KMBoro]

Are you for real?

Absolutely. I just hope the seller is off a vindictive nature and has thee means to screw you too.

 

[LukeB123]

The op wants to buy the place, but he does not want to be lumbered with any enforcement. This will need to be addressed early on either way, so it's not as if the OP needs to complain, more so needs the council to be involved. And if need be, the windows to be changed by mutual agreement or formal notice.

This. Bear in mind that solicitors may not want to complete a sale when there's enforcement issues live on the site. The issue itself might take months to sort if you do raise it.
You could get a few quotes for the work and factor this into the price of the property so you can sort it. Whoever owns is liable, so you could buy it and sort it in the future, and /or hope no one raises it as an issue.

 

[KMBoro]

Thank you Luke. That seems a sensible way forward. Obviously I don't want to be taking someone else's issue on and it simply becoming mine as a result of someone else's negligence. As someone has already said on here, it is actually an offence to carry out work on a LB without LBC.
Thanks for your reply

 

[bernardgreen]

Consider getting an estimate for the cost of replacing the windows and then coming to an agreement with the vendor to share that cost . The vendor drops the sale price by his share of the cost.

 

[geraldthehamster]

Consider getting an estimate for the cost of replacing the windows and then coming to an agreement with the vendor to share that cost . The vendor drops the sale price by his share of the cost.

And then do your bit for the nation's built heritage, by asking to raise enforcement orders on all the other houses in the terrace that have illegal uPVC windows

 

[^woody^]

And then do your bit for the nation's built heritage, by asking to raise enforcement orders on all the other houses in the terrace that have illegal uPVC windows

There are a couple of professional snitchers on DIYNot who would love to do that for the OP. Don't ask them for any other building advice though, as they are clueless.

 

[Nakajo]

I wasn't aware that enforcement orders needed first to be raised by the general public before being actioned by the Local Authority.

 

[KMBoro]

I wasn't aware that enforcement orders needed first to be raised by the general public before being actioned by the Local Authority.

I wouldn't have thought they needed to - surely a conservation officer's job is to check whether the area/building is following the directives of Historic England - you only have to look down the street I am thinking of buying and you can see that their job is not being done

 

[chappers]

When was the building listed, it is possible that it was listed after the windows were fitted. I seem to recall an episode of grand designs where the owner of a listed building replaced plastic gutters and downpipes on a listed building and the LA tried to get them to change them to cast iron, but the owner had photographic proof that the plastic gutters were in place at the time of listing.

 

[KMBoro]

When was the building listed, it is possible that it was listed after the windows were fitted. I seem to recall an episode of grand designs where the owner of a listed building replaced plastic gutters and downpipes on a listed building and the LA tried to get them to change them to cast iron, but the owner had photographic proof that the plastic gutters were in place at the time of listing.

I found a document that mentions its listed status as far back as 84 and I reckon the windows are mid 90s

 

[Nakajo]

Besides, the listing description probably describes the original windows.

 

[Supersax]

You need to bear in mind that contravention of Listed Building legislation is a criminal offence, unlike contravention of planning legislation. Personally, I wouldn't buy a LB property without the situation being regularised.

You'll probably find that there are other properties nearby which have uPVC windows or are in a Conservation Area. However this probably is an indication of the staffing situation at most Councils at the moment. Pointing out other transgressers will do you as much good as pointing at other drivers speeding on the motorway, if you get caught speeding yourself...

 

[Nige F]

You have to love a building to undertake ownership of a listed one . Photographic evidence is great for proving a point . I got the front door panels of an hotel where I worked changed from wood to glass (which made them more useful to the hotel ) by finding a photo of the whole door and portico in the reclamation yard where it was sold to the then owner in the 1930's. It was a private house back then and the wood panels added privacy. I'm sad and love buildings

 

[bernardgreen]

I'm sad and love buildings

Me too, though it isn't sad to cherish our heritage.

I wanted to fix a street light on the corner of my cottage to deter lorries from hitting the thatched roof in the dark ( And sometimes in the day light ) Conservation officer said NO... old photo from 1914 shows a street lamp there. It was an oil lamp about 2 foot below the thatch, new new one will not be oil.