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Heritage Consultancy Services · Development Advice

Strategic heritage advice for development teams.

Sites with heritage constraints carry risk that doesn’t appear on a planning history. We provide the strategic heritage advice that turns that risk into a known position, from acquisition due diligence through scheme design to consent strategy. Used by developers, investors, project managers and architects.

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We respond within one working day leading to a no obligation outline approach.

Development advice differs from project-level heritage work. The audience is the project board, not the planning officer. The deliverable is strategic guidance, a heritage red-flag review, an acquisition memo, a route-to-consent strategy, not the formal documents that go to the local authority.

We sit alongside the planning consultant, the architect, and the development manager, providing the heritage view at the points where it changes decisions.

When development advice helps

When strategic heritage advice makes the difference.

1.

Acquisition and due diligence

Before exchange on a site with listed buildings, conservation area context, or other heritage designations, a heritage red-flag review identifies the constraints that affect feasibility, viability, and programme, and feeds directly into the development appraisal. It catches the issues that would otherwise emerge after completion.

2.

Concept design

At the architectural concept stage, heritage input shapes the brief before substantial design cost is committed. It saves redesign and shortens the consent route.

3.

Consent strategy and board reporting

For major schemes affecting heritage assets, the consent strategy, which permissions to seek in what order, when to engage Historic England, how to position the heritage case, makes a measurable difference to the timeline and the probability of approval. We report it in the project board’s format.

What’s in the package

Strategic heritage advice built for the project team.

1.

Heritage red-flag review

A short, focused report identifying the heritage constraints affecting a site: listings, conservation area context, archaeology, settings, scheduled monuments, registered parks. Used at acquisition or early feasibility.

2.

Heritage development memo

A more detailed strategic note for the development board: what is realistic on the site, what the consent route looks like, where the risk sits, and what the heritage approach should be.

3.

Consent route strategy

For schemes already committed, a structured strategy document setting out the heritage applications required, the order they should be pursued, the engagement plan with statutory consultees, and the position the heritage case should take.

4.

Heritage advisor on the project team

Where the scheme is substantial enough, we sit on the project team as heritage advisor, attending design team meetings, advising the architect, providing the heritage view at design reviews, and feeding into project board reports.

What to expect

From instruction to delivered advice.

i.

Reviews and memos

A heritage red-flag review takes five to ten working days for a typical site, faster where the deal is moving quickly. A heritage development memo for acquisition or feasibility-stage advice on a moderate site takes two to four weeks.

ii.

Strategy and ongoing advisory

A consent route strategy on a substantial scheme takes three to six weeks. An ongoing advisor role is project-dependent, typically agreed as a monthly retainer or stage-fee structure, to whatever cadence the project board requires.

Tell us your acquisition deadline or project gate and we’ll work back from it.

The audience is the project board, not the planning officer.

Recent work

Heritage advice that shaped the deal.

Project image: development site
Grade II South East England Development Advice

Heritage red-flag review at acquisition

Constraints identified before exchange, feeding the development appraisal.

A heritage red-flag review on a site with listed and conservation area constraints, delivered before exchange so the development appraisal reflected the real consent route and the risk was a known position rather than a surprise after completion.

View our work →

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Grade I Grade II* Grade II All projects Residential Historic estates

Common questions

Development advice FAQs.

At what stage should I commission heritage advice on a development?
The earlier the better. The most cost-effective heritage advice happens before exchange on the site, or at the latest during early feasibility. Heritage advice commissioned after the design is fixed is dealing with sunk cost. The development memo at acquisition is typically the highest-value piece of work we do for development teams.
How is development advice different from a heritage impact assessment?
A heritage impact assessment is the formal document that supports a planning or listed building consent application, written for the conservation officer who has to decide. Development advice is strategic guidance for the development team, written for the project board, the project manager, the architect. The audience is different, the deliverable is different, the purpose is different. The two are sequential: development advice early, heritage impact assessment when the application is ready.
Can you provide heritage input at design team meetings?
Yes. For schemes substantial enough to justify it, we attend design team meetings as the project’s heritage advisor, contributing to the design review process, advising the architect on heritage parameters, and providing the heritage view at project board reports.
Do you work with planning consultants?
Yes, routinely. On most development projects we work alongside the planning consultant who is leading the wider planning case. We focus on the heritage element; they lead on the planning case as a whole. The two roles are complementary.
How much does development advice cost?
Fixed fee, agreed in writing. The figure depends on scope: a one-page red-flag review is one figure, a strategic memo for an acquisition is another, an ongoing advisor role on a substantial scheme is structured as a retainer or stage fee. Tell us the project and we’ll come back within 24 hours.
Can heritage advice make a difference at acquisition?
Yes, most measurably so. Heritage constraints that emerge after exchange typically cost time, redesign budget, and sometimes the project itself. A heritage red-flag review at acquisition routinely identifies issues that change the price, the programme, or the deal.

Get in touch

Tell us about the site. We’ll tell you what’s involved.

Most enquiries get a written outline approach within 24 hours. Working in London? Meet our heritage consultants in London.

Speak To Our Team Or call our team on 0330 0880 984
What to send

To get a fast outline approach, share:

  • The site address
  • The deal stage: considering it, exchanged, in feasibility, in design
  • Your decision deadline
  • Your role: developer, investor, project manager, or architect