Heritage Works for Housing - AWARD

Heritage Works (3rd Edition 2017) is a guide for all those involved in the development process which is intended to make successful heritage-based regeneration more achievable. It covers a variety of types of heritage-based regeneration, from reviving flagging high streets to residential conversion of former textile mills and creating new start-up spaces in railway arches. It doesn't aim to be a design guide but instead describes the development process with special reference to heritage circumstances, including concept development, project preparation, implementation, occupation and subsequent management.

In the context of the current housing shortages in England, Historic England is keen to encourage more adaptation and reuse of heritage buildings for residential use. Previous research indicated that the redundant textile mills of Yorkshire and Lancashire alone could provide 52,000 new homes. A daughter publication to Heritage Works focusing on residential development is one way in which this sort of reuse can be encouraged not only to assist with housing shortages but also to contribute to achieving net zero by avoiding unnecessary demolition.

The key audience for such a publication is the SME housing developers for whom taking on a heritage-based project or a project with a heritage component is perceived as risky. But it is equally important that those involved as regulators (planners, Conservation specialists) understand the particular issues inherent in residential development so that the levers of regulation are used appropriately.