I am very pleased to announce that English Heritage has just released our report on the Value of Conservation Areas. This report comprised a statistical analysis of more than 1 million property transactions between 1995 and 2010 from the Nationwide building society data on more than 8,000 English conservation areas. We found that houses in conservation areas sell at a premium and show greater appreciation in value that those in other areas. We also conducted a qualitative analysis of residents perceptions of living in conservation areas and their attitudes toward planning. We found that there was NO universally negative attitude toward planning regulations. In addition, those residents who had applied for permission were MORE likely to have positive attitudes towards planning controls than those who had not. … So a hearty well done for those beleaguered planners out there!
It has been picked up by a number of papers:
In the FT week end edition.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/25f10ee4-c129-11e1-853f-00144feabdc0.html#axzz206zCarzT
and here:
http://www.beautifulnorthyorkshire.com/2012/07/heritage-pays-for-home-owners-according.html
Please define “Conservation Area” for me. In the US, we typically use “conservation” as a term related to the preservation/enhancement of natural areas. Is that how you are using it or in the UK is it applied more to the conservation of the built environment, such as homes, neighborhoods, historic buildings, etc?
Posted by Daniel | July 17, 2012, 7:56 pmHi Daniel, yes in the UK we tend to use conservation for both natural capital and the built environment. So, in this sense a Conservation Area refers to a group of buildings that have special merit based on either their history or architectural style. There are special planning controls placed on these areas that limit how property owners are able to alter them.
Posted by drnancyholman | July 17, 2012, 10:10 pm