Committee publication · Correspondence · 3 March 2026
Letter from Baroness Twycross, Minister for Museums, Heritage and Gambling, regarding Protecting built heritage oral evidence follow-up, 27 February 2026
From: Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Inquiry: Protecting built heritage
Summary
Baroness Twycross responds to follow-up questions from the Culture, Media and Sport Committee's 10 February oral evidence session on protecting built heritage. The letter details government funding mechanisms for heritage-to-housing conversion (£16 billion National Housing Bank, £150 million Brownfield Fund allocation), explains the independent valuation process for community assets under the English Devolution Bill, clarifies Historic England's 560,000–670,000 homes estimate, and outlines funding signposting and skills development initiatives for heritage stewards.
Key findings
- National Housing Bank (£16 billion) and Brownfield Housing Fund (£150 million this year) can support vacant heritage building conversions; the fund will merge into the National Housing Delivery Fund in April 2026 with £5 billion additional capital.
- Community right to buy (English Devolution Bill) grants communities first refusal on registered assets of community value; independent valuers will determine market-value sale prices if negotiation fails, with 8-week periods for both negotiation and valuation.
- Historic England's March 2025 study estimates 560,000–670,000 homes from repurposing vacant historic non-domestic properties, empty retail units, and vacant homes; analysis does not isolate publicly owned estate breakdown.
- Historic England launching Community Advice Hub (Summer 2026) as one-stop signposting for heritage stewards' funding; Historic England works with Skills England to embed heritage construction skills in Local Skills Improvement Plans.
- Minister commits to meet Housing Minister to discuss heritage's role in meeting 1.5 million new homes target.
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Baroness Twycross, Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), Historic England, Homes England, Skills England, Construction Skills Mission Board
Notable line
“Community right to buy gives communities the right of first refusal on the purchase of registered assets of community value when they are put up for sale by their owner.”
Key Quotes
“Subject to the scheme's criteria, vacant heritage buildings can benefit from this funding stream and this will complement the work of the National Housing Delivery Fund.”
“Where parties are not able to agree the sale price through negotiation, the local authority will be required to appoint an independent valuer who will have eight weeks to determine this price based on market value.”
“Historic England calculated the number of potential new homes by looking at floorspace data from vacant historic non-domestic properties such as retail, office and industrial spaces, from underused retail units such as empty spaces above shops, and from vacant historic homes.”
“Historic England is currently developing the Community Advice Hub, which will become a one- stop-shop for stewards of heritage sites to understand what funding may be available to them.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗