Heritage at risk register

Historic England has published heritage at risk registers since 1998 for grade I and II* listed buildings in England. In recent years other assets such as conservation areas have also been added.

They use the registers to target their resources to those buildings most at risk of loss or long-term decline.

Historic England encourages local authorities to produce registers for grade II listed buildings.

We have carried out a survey on Blackpool’s grade II listed buildings, and produced a heritage at risk register.

This will raise public awareness of the scale of the risk and help target resources towards these buildings.

It will also help with wider debate about how the future of vulnerable buildings should be managed to prevent long term decline or total loss.
We will be extending the survey to locally listed buildings in the future.

Assessing buildings and structures at risk

Criteria for inclusion on the register

Buildings are assessed on the basis of condition and, where applicable, occupancy (or use).
The condition of buildings on the register ranges from very bad condition to poor, fair and (occasionally) good, and includes buildings that are vulnerable to becoming at risk because they are empty, under-used or face redundancy without a new use to secure their future.
Condition is graded as follows:

Very bad

Means a building where there has been structural failure, or where there are clear signs of structural instability; where there has been loss of significant areas of the roof covering leading to major deterioration of the interior; or where there has been a major fire or other disaster affecting most of the building.

Poor

Means a building or structure with deteriorating masonry and/or a leaking roof and/or defective rainwater goods, usually accompanied by rot outbreaks within and general deterioration of most elements of the building fabric, including external joinery; or where there has been a fire or other disaster which has affected part of the building

Fair

Means a building which is structurally sound, but in need of minor repair or showing signs of a lack of general maintenance

Good

Means structurally sound, weather-tight and with no significant repairs needed.

Occupancy

Or use is noted as vacant, part-occupied, occupied or unknown. For some structures occupancy is not applicable.
Buildings capable of beneficial use are at risk if they are in:

• Very bad or poor condition

And vulnerable if they are in:

• Fair (and occasionally good) condition and vacant, partially occupied or about to be vacated as a result of functional redundancy

Buildings or structures are removed from the register when they are fully repaired/consolidated and their future secured either through occupation and reuse, or through the adoption of appropriate management. 

Priority for action

Once a building is identified as being at risk or vulnerable, priority for action is assessed on a scale of A to F. Priority for action is based on how fast a building is likely to deteriorate without intervention. A is the highest priority for a building which is deteriorating rapidly with no solution to secure its future, and F is the lowest priority where a repair scheme is in progress and an end use has been secured.

Priority for action is graded as follows:

A - Immediate risk of further rapid deterioration or loss of fabric; no solution agreed

B - Immediate risk of further rapid deterioration or loss of fabric; solution agreed but not yet implemented

C - Slow decay; no solution agreed

D - Slow decay; solution agreed but not yet implemented

E - Under repair or in fair to good repair, but no user identified; or under threat of vacancy with no obvious new user (applicable only to buildings capable of beneficial use)

F - Repair scheme in progress and (where applicable) end use or user identified; functionally redundant buildings with new use agreed but not yet implemented