Written evidence submitted by Professor Liz Laycock

1. What are the most significant challenges facing owners and operators of built heritage assets, and how are they affecting what those sites can offer?

Financial Constraints: Many heritage sites are not self-sustaining, and competitive grant funding requires significant administrative effort, diverting resources from core conservation work. This disproportionately disadvantages smaller initiatives and those individuals and organisation representing communities with lower socio-economic backgrounds.

Climate Change: Heritage assets face multiple climate-related hazards, such as flooding, wind driven rain ingress, and temperature range and fluctuations. Poorly understood adaptations for energy efficiency (e.g., foam spray insulation) can accelerate fabric deterioration and fail to deliver anticipated benefits.

Diverse Stakeholders: The ownership and management of the sector is complex. The sector involves a wide range of stakeholders (e.g., local authorities, private owners, National Trust, English Heritage), often with competing priorities, making coordinated action difficult. 

Misunderstanding of Heritage Structures: Retrofitting heritage buildings to modern standards can induce decay. Misinformation and lack of research into how heritage structures "work" can lead to irreversible damage.  Retrofitting to a modern standard without understanding can induce decay and fail to produce the specified benefits because R&D is predominantly funded by and for the modern building industry – and standard and regulations are largely developed by and for these industrial players.

Diverse portfolio: Heritage assets are often considered to be the larger and higher status buildings whereas much of the accumulated heritage that tells the story of the UK is typified by smaller sites or vernacular domestic buildings.  The financial value and heritage value are often two separate factors.

• What interventions are needed to prevent the managed decline of heritage assets on publicly-owned land?

Long-Term Funding Models: Move away from short-term, reactive funding to long-term, stable financial models that support ongoing maintenance and proactive conservation.

Climate Adaptation Research: Invest in research to optimise energy efficiency without compromising heritage fabric. Develop low-energy solutions tailored to historic buildings.

Community Engagement: Empower local communities to take ownership of heritage assets through training and light-touch approval schemes for low-risk works.

• What can the Government do to make it easier for communities or local businesses to take ownership of historic buildings?

Simplified Ownership Models: Reduce legal and financial barriers for communities or local businesses to take on heritage buildings, including liability protections and grants for initial repairs.

2.               How effective are the current funding and finance models for built heritage?

Short-Term / Reactive: Grant funding is often time-constrained and project-specific, failing to address the long-term needs of heritage conservation as a whole. Bureaucratic delays and rigid requirements may further limit effectiveness.

Competitive Disadvantages: Smaller organisations and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds are often disadvantaged in competitive funding processes.

COVID-19 Impact: The pandemic has exacerbated funding shortages, leading to delayed projects, increased costs, and a growing backlog of conservation work.

Loss of Expertise: Budget cuts lead to staff losses, eroding organisational knowledge and making involvement in the sector less attractive to younger people. This creates a skills gap, further exacerbated by delayed or deferred projects due to funding shortages.

• What should long-term public funding for the sector look like?

Stable and Impartial Distribution: Public funding should be distributed by impartial experts (e.g., EHT, National Trust) to ensure fairness and focus on need rather than "wow factor."

Holistic Approach: Funding should support not only high-status buildings but also smaller, vernacular sites that tell the broader story of the UK.

Partnerships: Encourage partnerships between commercial, academic, and not-for-profit sectors to pool resources and expertise.

Tax Relief and Incentives: Introduce tax relief for commercial investments in heritage conservation and encourage voluntary contributions through schemes like a national heritage and nature assets Tax (£1 per working person/annum).

3. What role does built heritage play in the regeneration of local areas and in contributing to economic growth and community identity?

Community Identity: Heritage buildings contribute to local identity and pride, fostering community engagement and tourism.

Economic Multipliers: Heritage-led regeneration can stimulate local economies by creating jobs, attracting visitors, and supporting local businesses.

• How can heritage buildings be supported to increase energy efficiency and contribute to the Government’s net zero targets?

Research and Development: Invest in R&D to develop energy-efficient solutions tailored to heritage buildings, avoiding inappropriate modern interventions.

Local Solutions: Promote local resource use, such as parish quarries for repair materials, to reduce reliance on imports and support local economies.

Education: Raise awareness among occupiers and owners about the risks of misinformation and irreversible damage from poorly understood interventions.

4. What are the financial, regulatory and practical barriers to preserving built heritage?

High Costs: Restoration and maintenance are expensive, and VAT on repair materials (unlike new builds) exacerbates costs.

Regulatory Complexity: Planning and conservation regulations can be cumbersome, discouraging investment.

Skills Shortages: The loss of traditional crafts and expertise creates a gap in the workforce, increasing costs and delays.

• What policy changes are needed to make restoring historic buildings easier and less expensive?

VAT Reform: Remove VAT on conservation repairs to level the playing field with new builds.

Streamlined Regulations: Simplify planning and conservation regulations, fund national advice resources to make appropriate restoration easier and less expensive

Skills Investment: Fund training programs to revive traditional crafts and create a sustainable pipeline of skilled workers.

5. What policies would ensure the UK workforce has the right skills to maintain our heritage assets?

Training Programs: Develop basic training courses (e.g., conservation CSCS recognising that conservator crafts are a specialised discipline). Establish protocols for enabling  low-risk works,  and support higher-level input and advice for complex projects.

Retainer Schemes: Provide retainers for contractors during off-seasons to support training and community maintenance teams.

Value Traditional Skills: Introduce traditional skills in mainstream construction education and practice.

Professor Liz Laycock

Professor of Stone Conservation at Sheffield Hallam University