Non-designated heritage assets, including locally listed buildings and undesignated buildings that contribute to the character of an area, are assessed through the balanced judgement required by the NPPF, rather than the statutory presumption that applies to designated assets. This experience includes the identification and assessment of non-designated assets both as standalone instructions and as part of wider development schemes.

Relevant projects include a large non-designated country house in Hertfordshire, now in use as a health and spa resort, where a full Heritage Statement is being prepared to support proposed works to the main building. Further instructions include the Albert and Lion public house in Blackpool, a non-designated heritage asset within a commercial setting, where a Heritage Statement supported its proposed conversion to residential use; and a surviving interwar Art Deco shopfront in west London, where a fresh Heritage Statement was prepared following an earlier refusal. A locally listed public house in east London has also been assessed, where an existing Heritage Statement was reviewed and strengthened and its policy basis brought up to date, and locally listed buildings by the architect Edward Bonner have been considered alongside the designated heritage of the surrounding area as part of a residential care scheme in Surrey, weighing their contribution within the wider planning balance. Non-designated assets have further featured in appeal work, where the balanced judgement the NPPF requires for such assets was applied.

Across this work the emphasis is on establishing, on the evidence, whether an asset meets the threshold for non-designated status and what weight its significance should properly carry, neither overstating local interest nor dismissing it.