Listed Building Energy Assessment & Planning Advice

Currently, we are only offering the HEEP surveys whilst we re-establish this service. If you’d like one of the other surveys, we suggest that you book the survey and the Level 0 pre-app separately. Our team are well-versed in considerations around building conservation. 

The Conservation Officer will provide ‘Service Level 0’ pre-application advice that can inform a standard pre-app or full application for Listed Building Consent. They will be visiting in their regulatory and advisory capacity as they would on a site visit for a pre-app or listed building application.  

During the visit, the Conservation Officer may observe alterations to the building and could note any unauthorised work. It is the householder’s responsibility to correspond directly with the B&NES Planning & Conservation Team as they see fit on any recommendations relating to unauthorised work, rather than taking these issues through BWCE. For any further queries relating to unauthorised works, please contact conservation_andplanning@bathnes.gov.uk. 

This service is available as part of our Green Heritage Homes project, in partnership with Bath & Norh East Somerset Council. Currently no other Councils offer the Service Level 0 that we are aware of.  

We are sorry, but this means our Listed Building Surveys are not available for residents outside of Bath & North East Somerset. However, the Green Heritage Homes Phase 2 project supports other councils to implement the Service Level 0 pre-app and we are happy to talk to other Councils about this service. Please get in touch for more information.  

For any conservation advice regarding assessment of works and potential listed building advice, please consult your own local authority’s conservation officer. 

We have produced videos listed building factsheets with guidance about assessing the heritage significance of your property and considering different retrofit measures, which can be a helpful starting point to a project - find these on the Listed Building support page.

Please also refer to further guidance produced by Historic England.

We’re currently able to offer some limited free support after your assessment is complete to help you move forwards to installation. Get in touch for more information - home.energy@bwce.coop.

We’re including new Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) with every HEEP survey. This ensures that the resulting HEEP is based on accurate, up-to-date information about the home.

An up-to-date EPC can also be useful for instance when you come to sell your home.

As part of your HEEP assessment, we will complete and lodge a new Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for your property. This is included in your assessment at no extra cost. Lodging the EPC means it will be added to the national register and can be used for future home improvements, funding applications, or if you decide to sell or rent your home.

If you don’t want it to be formally lodged and made available on the register, then that’s fine. We can generate an EPC to provide the necessary baseline data for your Home Energy Efficiency Plan, but the lodgement stage of the EPC is optional.

If you do not wish for your EPC to be lodged, please let us know beforehand, and no later than 24 hours after your home visit.

Retrofit West are offering discount vouchers (called Home Energy Assessment Vouchers) which currently provide an 80% reduction on energy assessments for households located in Bristol, Bath and South Gloucestershire (our Home Energy Efficiency Plans are available to all households in B&NES).

• Surveys will be funded 80% of the total cost up to the value of £500 subsidy.

• It’s possible to swap a voucher from one survey option to another - please let us know if you would like to do that.

• We can apply for a voucher on your behalf. All you have to do is tick the box when you book in your survey with us.

• Every household is eligible for up to two vouchers.

It’s possible to swap a voucher from one survey option to another - please let us know if you would like to do that.

We can apply for a voucher on your behalf. All you have to do is tick the box when you book in your survey with us.

Alternatively, you can apply for a Retrofit West discount voucher yourself, by following these steps:

1. Visit Retrofit West’s voucher webpage and select ‘Apply for voucher’.

2. Follow the instructions and enter your contact details.

3. Against ‘Which type of assessment are you using this voucher for?’ – select the option called ‘Retrofit Plan’.

4. Against ‘Please select your Retrofit Plan service provider’ – select ‘HEEP - Bath & West Community Energy’.

5. Accept the Terms and Conditions (listed at the bottom of the web page, you’ll be directed to), and press ‘Submit’.

Retrofit West will then be in touch by email within a few days confirming your voucher code and that your address is eligible.

Any questions? Please get in touch with us so we can help.

Yes please! We are always looking for listed building owners who are prepared to share their experience of energy efficiency, and will invite all recipients of this service to become Champions. 

Though Green Heritage Homes Phase 1, 43 Champions stepped forward and are now in various stages of the home energy journey. Here are some of the actions you, alongside our other Champions, can take to inspire others: 

• Allow us to publish and share a case study outlining the main recommendations made during the survey (this can be anonymised to house type & postcode)

• Participate in follow up questionnaires to provide feedback and testimonial about how you found the process, and to track progress on any measures subsequently installed in your home as a result of the advice received 

• Ongoing and follow up communication with the B&NES Conservation Officer to monitor the progress of delivery of building works

• Potentially host monitoring equipment from the University of Bath for a limited time to validate some of the assumptions made in the survey model (such as indoor air quality or moisture levels in elements of building fabric)

• Offer to share information on the case study and your experience through your networks (family, friends, neighbours, colleagues, social media etc) 

• Provide a video testimonial

• Write a blog post

• Speak at local event(s) and to neighbours

• Participate in an Open Homes event

• Provide tours of their house for other local residents

• Host ‘House Warming Parties’ e.g. to share findings of their survey with neighbouring residents.  

Our Listed Building Champions can also be part of the B&NES Community Energy Network, promoting energy saving and renewable energy throughout our area in a wide variety of ways. Please contact home.energy@bwce.coop for more information, or call 01225 683204. 

Let our Retrofit Advisor guide you through the options by getting in touch.