Historic houses 'will perish without tax aid'

Privately-owned historic buildings and archaeological sites of great national importance are facing ruin because of punitive tax laws, a shortage of traditional building skills and a lack of political will to preserve them, the chief executive of English Heritage said yesterday.

Speaking after the publication of research into the state of England's heritage, Simon Thurley warned that some of the country's most valuable architectural and archaeological sites would perish unless more tax breaks were given to private owners and the shortage of skills was addressed.

The State of the Historic Environment Report, commissioned from Mori by the Government and compiled by English Heritage and 20 other conservation bodies, has found many sites are under threat.

Among the decaying properties is Apethorpe House in Northamptonshire, which has stood empty for 20 years despite being "the single most important surviving site of 17th-century state apartments in England," he said.

West Pier in Brighton, Durham Castle, London's St Pancras station and a Grade II-listed windmill in Brixton, south London, are also among the endangered heritage sites. There are now a total of 17,000 properties on the Buildings at Risk Register.

The problems have been blamed on the imposition of VAT of 17.5 per cent on building repairs, which places a heavy burden on private owners, and the shortage of stonemasons, thatchers and traditional slaters, which means buildings are often improperly repaired.

Mr Thurley said: "Tax for repairs needs to be brought down to 5 per cent to bring it into line with other European countries and the Government needs to encourage builders to develop skills needed to preserve our buildings.

"Most builders are au fait with breeze blocks but that is not much use when 23 per cent of the country's houses were built before 1919," he said.

Owners of private homes are campaigning for building tax to be reduced to 5 per cent.

Mr Thurley added that important archaeological sites were also under threat because of deep furrow ploughing by farmers. Up to 12 Roman towns buried beneath farmland across England, including a Roman city in Richborough, Kent, and the town of Verulamium at St Albans, are facing destruction from deep furrow ploughing because farmers were not being adequately compensated, he said.

"The English countryside is littered with 30,000 protected archaeological sites buried just beneath the surface. Unfortunately, farmers do not always respect the regulations about how deeply they are allowed to plough which has resulted in damage to important sites."