There are several important points for clients to note though when purchasing a listed property. A common mistake is that the grading tells you how much of the house is listed. This is incorrect as all the building is listed including both inside and outside, plus the area around the building is also protected.

Before you purchase the property, you must ensure that all work in the past had planning permission. Carrying out unauthorised works to a listed building is a criminal offence and individuals can be prosecuted. Therefore you may be deemed responsible for any infringements of previous owners of the property and the Local Authority has the right to insist that works undertaken without consent are reversed.

Your Solicitor should advise you on how Listed Building Consent affects the purchase of the property. Usually the vendor has to indemnify the purchaser against any potential infringements if insufficient evidence can be produced of compliance.

The majority are built from locally quarried Forest Marble, which is an extremely durable stone and one of the reasons why Frome has so many surviving buildings of interest. Chimney stacks are commonly constructed of brick being more fire resistant than stone and the red brick chimney stacks add to the town’s warm red/brown coloured roofscape.

Since the late 1970s, £1.8 million of grant aid has been put into restoring and regenerating the much loved listed buildings ensuring that the distinctive heritage of the town continues.