Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department has issued on the classification of (a) annexes and (b) sculleries in listed buildings for council tax purposes.
Answered by Jim McMahon
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is the organisation responsible for determining the council tax band of all domestic properties. In doing this they will make an assessment of whether a property consists of one dwelling or multiple dwellings. They will make this decision based on legislation and case law. The government does not have any plans to change this approach.
Where part of a property is liable as a separate dwelling, it will be liable for the standard rate of council tax for that band set by local authorities in the area. The council tax system does contain a number of discounts and exemptions to reflect different types of annexes. The government’s guidance on how annexes are treated for council tax purposes can be found here.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of approved contractors in the Microgeneration Certification Scheme that can work on the Boiler Upgrade Scheme in listed properties.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
The Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) is a nationally recognised quality assurance scheme for renewable technologies, setting high standards for products and installations, including under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS).
As of April 2025, there are 1,580 MCS registered companies with an active BUS account, with these companies ranging from sole traders to larger corporations with large number of installers.
The Government’s Heat Training Grant continues to support existing heating engineers in England to take the relevant training to install heat pumps. Since its launch in July 2023, over 6,500 individuals have gone through heat pump installation training funded through the scheme.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether landlords will be able to let listed properties which do not reach energy performance certificate rating C in the future under current plans to reform energy performance certificate regulations.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
The Government is consulting on proposals to increase minimum energy efficiency standards in the domestic private rented sector. Current regulations include a number of exemptions to ensure minimal disruption to tenants and the number of homes available in the private rented sector, including exemptions for listed buildings where compliance would unacceptably alter the character or appearance of the existing building. We are looking to ensure appropriate exemptions are in place for any new standards.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of VAT relief on new build properties on increasing house building, and what plans they have to extend VAT relief to the refurbishment of listed buildings.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
To support the construction of new homes, the Government maintains a zero rate of VAT on new-build residential buildings and a reduced rate of VAT of five per cent for residential renovations that meet certain conditions.
To preserve heritage, restorative work carried out on listed buildings previously benefited from a zero rate of VAT. However, this relief was abolished in 2012, as it was primarily used to carry out extension work unnecessary for heritage purposes. The Government has no current plans to reduce the VAT charged on work to maintain and repair listed properties, but keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to allow heritage-appropriate alternative materials to be used for listed properties in instances where traditional materials are (a) unavailable and (b) prohibitively expensive.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
It is for local planning authorities to determine applications for proposed works to listed buildings, including what materials should be used. Each case will be different and needs to be considered on its own merits. As such, the government does not intend to make changes to national policy in this area.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 25798 on Listed Buildings: Energy, if he will request data on listed buildings from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to enable an assessment to be made.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We are working on our ambitious Warm Homes Plan, to transform homes across the country by making them cleaner and cheaper to run, from installing new insulation to rolling out solar and heat pumps. Whilst we are not currently seeking additional data specifically on listed buildings, we have commissioned a package of research to collect data on the costs of different approaches to decarbonising the most complex housing archetypes.
Historic England also provide advice on retrofit and energy efficiency in historic buildings, including guidance on installing heat pumps and heating systems that is relevant to listed properties off the gas grid.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to reducing the costs of improving the energy efficiency of listed properties with respect to (1) planning fees, (2) professional support, (3) materials, and (4) labour.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is committed to supporting all homeowners in installing energy efficiency measures to drive down bills and reduce our overall energy consumption. Many of these measures will support listed buildings. In November 2024, the Government announced the Warm Homes Plan which has committed £3.2 billion of investment for energy efficiency across 2025 to 2026, including an increased budget for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.
Historic England is Government’s statutory adviser on the historic environment. It has resources available online to support owners of listed buildings in installing appropriate energy efficiency measures. Last summer, Historic England updated their advice note on Adapting Historic Buildings for Energy and Carbon Efficiency to provide clarity and support consistent decision-making to reduce carbon emissions and improve the energy efficiency of historic buildings.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an estimate of the number of off-grid properties which are listed buildings.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department does not hold data on listed buildings and so does not have estimates for the number of listed buildings that are not connected to gas or electricity networks. The department publishes estimates of the number of domestic properties not connected to the gas network in Great Britain at various levels of geography and analysis of large non-domestic buildings that are not connected to the gas network.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of taking legislative steps to provide VAT relief on the rethatching of listed buildings.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
To preserve heritage, restorative work carried out on listed buildings previously benefited from a zero rate of VAT. However, this relief was abolished in 2012, as it was primarily used to carry out extension work unnecessary for heritage purposes. Withdrawing this relief simplified VAT rules and removed the scope for error when categorising construction work as either alteration or repair.
VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. VAT is the UK’s second largest tax forecast to raise £171 billion in 2024/25. Taxation is a vital source of revenue that helps to fund vital public services.
Evidence suggests that businesses only partially pass on any savings from lower VAT rates. In some cases, reliefs do not represent good value for money, as there is no guarantee that savings will be passed on to consumers.
The Government therefore has no current plans to reduce the VAT charged on work to maintain and repair listed properties, but we keep all taxes under review.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the case for permitted development rights for listed properties to be extended to the installation of solar panels not visible from street level.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We have no such plans at present. However, we will keep the matter under review as we develop our planning policy on heritage matters.