Liverpool’s historic waterfront is one of the most recognisable in the world. Once a powerhouse of global trade, its docks and warehouses are steeped in industrial and maritime heritage. The City is second only to London in the number of Grade I listed buildings it contains. But it is also a place that continues to evolve, and in recent years, not without tension. The loss of Liverpool’s World Heritage Site status in 2021 was a high-profile moment, raising questions about how cities manage growth in a heritage context.
In the years since, there has been a noticeable uptick in urban development activity - from residential-led schemes in the Baltic Triangle, to holistic masterplanning of the North Docks, and, most recently, proposals for the city’s tallest building at King Edward Triangle. Liverpool City Council has responded with a renewed focus on how best to understand, protect and shape its historic environment. The draft Historic Environment Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), now out for consultation, is a key part of that response. It provides detailed guidance on how the city’s planning policies should be applied to developments affecting heritage assets, helping applicants and decision-makers navigate what can often be seen as a complex part of the planning process.
While many of its core messages reflect established national and local policy, the SPD stands out for its broad scope, and its level of practical detail on issues that regularly arise in heritage decision-making. It embraces the current direction of travel for the sector in terms of climate adaptation and retrofit.
For developers or owners of heritage buildings, or for authorities facing similar pressures around change in historic places, Liverpool’s SPD is likely to be of interest.
A clear and comprehensive framework
The SPD brings together a wide range of planning policy, legislation, guidance and good practice into a single accessible framework. It advocates all the core principles you would expect; early engagement, establishing an understanding of significance, and using this to shape a contextually appropriate design response.
However, it provides a level of detail that goes beyond broad policy interpretation. It also includes a characterisation of different parts of the city, providing context for understanding how Liverpool’s historic areas have developed over time.
It covers all types of heritage asset, including non-designated assets, and provides detailed practical advice on matters such as shopfront design, often the subject of their own separate SPD.
Clarity on specific development scenarios
This is a real strength of the document. It goes further than most historic environment SPDs, by providing detailed, practical guidance on a wide range of common development alterations. These include extensions, window replacements, rooftop alterations, boundary treatments, shopfront changes, and public realm schemes. It sets out clear expectations for what is likely to be supported and when listed building consent is required.
The detailed guidance on what is likely to be acceptable, and the thresholds for listed building consent, should give applicants greater certainty and improve the quality of submissions. The result, in theory, should be more predictable outcomes and a smoother planning process. Whilst similar guidance has been provided by authorities in other jurisdictions, this has occasionally proved too prescriptive. Liverpool's approach appears to strike a better balance, offering clear expectations without being overly rigid.
Responding to climate change in historic places
The SPD also addresses climate resilience, sustainability and energy efficiency, embracing Historic England’s recent guidance[1] on retrofitting historic buildings. It provides detailed guidance on interventions such as breathable insulation, secondary glazing, double glazing, heat pumps, solar panels and microgeneration, setting out the circumstances in which these are likely to be appropriate.
It is encouraging to see the SPD align with this guidance, which in some regards can be seen as quite a progressive stance. This will be particularly important as pressure increases for existing buildings to meet higher environmental standards.
Part of a wider toolkit
Although this SPD serves as a city-wide document, it also sits alongside other emerging tools, including the separate draft Waterfront Historic Environment and Design SPD. Taken together, these tools reflect a coordinated and proactive approach to heritage-led planning across Liverpool, providing a foundation for managing change.
Final reflections
The draft Historic Environment SPD offers a useful and detailed guide to managing change across Liverpool’s historic environment.
While many of its principles will be familiar to heritage professionals, the way in which the document brings these issues together in one place, particularly its focus on everyday development pressures, makes it a worthwhile reference. It is also notable for its integration of current thinking on sustainability and climate adaptation.
In the context of Liverpool’s loss of World Heritage Site status, the SPD can be seen as a constructive and practical step in reaffirming how the city manages and communicates the value of its historic environment.
For other authorities, the SPD may offer a model for how heritage guidance can be made more accessible and tailored to common issues. For those working in Liverpool, it is a document worth becoming familiar with as it will become a material consideration in planning decisions.
If you would like to comment on the document, the consultation runs until 3rd September 2025. If you are a working with historic buildings in the city and require more tailored, project-specific heritage advice, then please get in touch.
Lichfields has a dedicated team of heritage specialists who appraise historic buildings and places of all periods and condition. We successfully manage change to heritage assets through consideration of their heritage significance and impacts on setting. Our experience encompasses work locally in Liverpool, and nationally on World Heritage Sites, Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas, Scheduled Monuments, Registered Parks and Gardens and Archaeology.
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Image credit: Chris Porter from Unsplash
