Historic environment good practice advice
Planning Policy Statement 5 (PPS5): Planning for the Historic Environment, was published by the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) in 2010.
It was accompanied by a guide to Planning Policy Statement 5: Planning for the Historic Environment: Historic Environment Planning Practice Guide published by Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) and English Heritage in March 2010. This provided guidance on planning policy in relation to designated and non-designated heritage assets.
The subsequent publication of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in March 2012 replaced a wide range of previous planning policy statements including PPS5. English Heritage and the Historic Environment Forum began preparing replacement guidance, however, in the meantime, as the intent of the NPPF was considered to be similar to PPS5 and the existing guidance remained relevant, it continued to be used and ‘government endorsed’.
On 11 July 2014, English Heritage published three pieces of draft replacement guidance for consultation. Along with additional technical advice it is intended that these will replace both the 'Planning and the Historic Environment: Historic Environment Planning Practice Guide' and a number of other pieces of English Heritage guidance.
They suggest that the new guidance does not increase or reduce the protection provided to heritage assets, but condenses previous guidance and includes some new provisions, such as Certificates of Lawful Proposed Works which can be used to confirm that planning permission is not required for works to heritage assets.
The consultation closed on 4 September 2014, and the final documents were published by the new organisation 'Historic England' on 25 March 2015.
- Good Practice Advice Note1: The Historic Environment in Local Plans.
- Good Practice Advice Note 2: Managing Significance in Decision-Taking in the Historic Environment.
- Good Practice Advice Note 3: The Setting of Heritage Assets.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
- Alterations to listed buildings guidance note.
- Archaeological officer.
- Archaeology and construction.
- Article 4 direction.
- Building Preservation Notice.
- Certificate of immunity.
- Conservation area.
- Conservation officer.
- Designated areas.
- English Heritage.
- Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 and listed buildings.
- Historic England.
- Historic Environment Service Provider Recognition.
- Listed buildings.
- NPPF.
- Permitted development.
- Planning permission.
- PPS5.
- Scheduled monuments.
[edit] External references
- Planning Policy Statement 5 (PPS5): Planning for the Historic Environment.
- A guide to Planning Policy Statement 5 (PPS5): Planning for the Historic Environment: Historic Environment Planning Practice Guide.
- Historic Environment Good Practice Advice Note 1: The Historic Environment in Local Plans.
- Historic Environment Good Practice Advice Note 2: Decision-Taking in the Historic Environment.
- Historic Environment Good Practice Advice Note 3: The Setting of Heritage Assets.
IHBC NewsBlog
Latest IHBC Issue of Context features Roofing
Articles range from slate to pitched roofs, and carbon impact to solar generation to roofscapes.
Three reasons not to demolish Edinburgh’s Argyle House
Should 'Edinburgh's ugliest building' be saved?
IHBC’s 2025 Parliamentary Briefing...from Crafts in Crisis to Rubbish Retrofit
IHBC launches research-led ‘5 Commitments to Help Heritage Skills in Conservation’
How RDSAP 10.2 impacts EPC assessments in traditional buildings
Energy performance certificates (EPCs) tell us how energy efficient our buildings are, but the way these certificates are generated has changed.
700-year-old church tower suspended 45ft
The London church is part of a 'never seen before feat of engineering'.
The historic Old War Office (OWO) has undergone a remarkable transformation
The Grade II* listed neo-Baroque landmark in central London is an example of adaptive reuse in architecture, where heritage meets modern sophistication.
West Midlands Heritage Careers Fair 2025
Join the West Midlands Historic Buildings Trust on 13 October 2025, from 10.00am.
Former carpark and shopping centre to be transformed into new homes
Transformation to be a UK first.
Canada is losing its churches…
Can communities afford to let that happen?
131 derelict buildings recorded in Dublin city
It has increased 80% in the past four years.














